Half-Hearted Halfling
by RomanTinkerBell1709
Summary: Vlad's unlife is turned upside down by an unexpected new arrival with a secret to hide. May or may not end up a romance later. I Do Not own Young Dracula or its characters aside from My OC (Everett Ainsley) M because I'm paranoid.
1. Chapter 1

**This is my first ever posted story, so I hope it's alright. I apologise for any miss-spelling of names and such - names can be so tempremental.**

**Enjoy!**

**R**

* * *

Vladimir Dracula had never been in a slump like this before.

In one foul blow he had lost his best friend and his girlfriend to Elizabetta and her son, his half brother.

Though, technically, it was his fault.  
He had staked Bertrand, thinking that he had betrayed him one too many times and he bit Erin because she was dying, then she betrayed him and had shacked up with his half brother, Malik.  
Right now she was in the middle of Paris somewhere.

He regretted nothing concerning Erin, but he missed Bertrand.  
He was sure Bertrand would commend him for how things turned out...if slightly annoyed.

Vlad figured he just needed to relax, so he set his mind to working on his peace plan between Slayers and Vamps. Unaware of the small havoc that was quickly approaching.

* * *

Rain beat down as Everett Ainsley landed in the next tree breathing heavily.

It soaked through her hood plastering her hair to her head. She hadn't had a good run like this in a long time but that didn't mean she enjoyed it.  
She looked behind her, steadying herself on the branch and hoping she had finally lost the Slayers. A stake narrowly missing her head answered that question.

_'And here we go again' _

She was fast, but it looked like they had four wheels now. She moved upwards into the trees for some cover and set off again.

Through the trees she spotted little dots of light, light meant-

_'People! Possibly crowds to hide in!' _

So she quickened her pace best she could and aimed for hope.

After a minute she seemed to lose the Slayers again but this time didn't stop for a breather, her fear keeping her moving forward.  
The lights became a building, not what she was expecting but it would do to hide out in, for now.

She leapt over the wall rolling when she hit the ground.

_'I never did learn how to land on my feet'_

The thought made her chuckle even in the dire situation.

She ran through the first door she saw slamming it shut behind her panting.  
She jumped when something dropped and someone coughed indicating she wasn't alone. She looked to her side cautiously and saw a bald man covered in what appeared to be flour...then again it could've been anything considering the Vampire Community.

"Hi! I'm Everett, Everett Ainsley. Hope you don't mind me hiding out here, Slayers and all" she pointed to the door when she mentioned Slayers.

It was a second later he reacted running from the small kitchen, as it turned out to be, screaming '_Master! Master!' _at the top of his lungs.

Her mind kicked into action again, she wasn't wanted here, obviously, but she was gonna hide out here all the same! Even if it was for an hour or so.

She ducked outside again and jumped up toward the roof. She could only jump up half way and so climbed the rest sitting on a chimney when she reached the top. She noted that this place was bigger than once thought.

_'Must be a school or something'_

About thirty seconds later the Slayers pulled into the grounds, piling out with weapons of mass Vamp destruction.

Everett walked to the edge of the roof and looked down on the scene.  
Three people appeared rather quickly, obviously vampires, from inside the building and after a minute two others appeared. She could tell that they were there due to the long shadows that appeared.

Only one stepped out into the rain, if she hadn't seen him step out she would've thought he was another shadow, and the conversation started.

"You won't be needing those weapons here. We're not going to attack unless you do" said one. It sounded male probably about the same age as her.

"We know who you are and we're not here for you, even though you should be staked through your unbeating heart! We're here following one you who attacked our team, she was last seen heading in this direction and figure she may have taken refuge in this building"

"Well I can easily say that we're not harbouring any fugitive"

"Unless you're talking about Ingrid, then you can go ahead and dust her" another male piped up.

"Hey!" a female voice

_'A rather demanding female voice'_

"Uhh, Master –"

"All the same we would appreciate it if you would let us check the grounds and inside the building for her. We'll leave as soon as she's disposed of"

"As I've told you we're not harbouring a fugitive. So, no. You can-not come in and take a look around. Feel free to look around the grounds but I can't allow you inside" said the first voice

"And if you don't believe them I can assure you none of them have left and no-one's come" said a new voice, another male.

_'There's so many men in this place'_

Both sides eyed each other for a bit longer before the slayers piled into their truck and drove off.

Everett shivered, she was soaked to the bone as it was still raining quite heavily, but unlike the true Vampires below her, if she didn't get inside, she could possibly end up dead.  
Although, she'd never been severely sick so wasn't really sure what would happen.

Upon finding an unlocked window she climbed inside, thankfully to an unoccupied room, curled up in a corner and eventually fell asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**I realised too late that I didn't put a disclaimer on the first chapter, so I'm putting it here, but hopefully you already know that I don't own Young Darcula or any of its characters aside from Everett Ainsley.**

**Here's Chapter 2**

* * *

She woke the next morning feeling cold. And much to her relief, those were her only symptoms.

She could hear the students downstairs going about their day, but she could also hear an argument going on down the hall.

Not wanting to attract attention from the Vamps, she headed for the window again and clambered out into the sunlight and onto the roof

'_Alright,__ I have forty-six minutes until I burn! Maybe I should come in through the front door...'_

She waited until the few students in the courtyard were inside then jumped down off the roof.

_'That landing was better' _

She stood and dusted herself off then proceeded inside.

She was admiring what would have been the main hall when a voice called from the stairwell behind her

"All students are supposed to be in class, why aren't you?"

Her whole body seemed to snap from fear as she turned in the direction of the voice, her senses still alert from last night's escapades.

The speaker appeared to be a brunette woman who was in her late twenties or early thirties and of a higher authority than one would think.

As soon as this woman realised that Everett wasn't a student her tone seemed to change.

"Oh. I'm sorry. You're not a student are you? What's your reason for being here? I wasn't expecting anyone."

It was at this point Everett realised how cold she was and, almost as a way to prove it, started to sneeze violently.

The woman quickly descended the staircase and seized Everett by the shoulder placing a warm hand against her forehead. Everett shivered as the woman then put an arm around her and pulled her in a direction

"You're burning up. Come on. Come with me"

Everett seemed to drop in and out of consciousness, she wasn't entirely sure, making it worse for her already fragile mind.  
She heard the woman calling to someone, or was it to her?

More warmth seemed to engulf her and she cracked her eyes open a little. Her vision blurred over a little, but she could make out the woman and two others, one with darker hair.

She fell into slumber soon after that.

* * *

She woke some time later feeling cool, but better than she had been before.  
She sat up and just managed to catch the cool pack as it fell from her face.

Her Vampiric instincts kicked in and she was about to speed off when the smell of food flared through her sensitive nose.  
A kind older woman, with white streaked blonde hair, appeared in the doorway holding a plate of bread and a bowl of what smelled like Chicken Soup on a tray.

"Oh! You're awake"

She walked further in and set the tray on a small table next to the bed.

Everett could hear the pulsating throb of the woman's blood through her veins, and it made her salivate.  
She had to pull back. Remind herself that she was vegetarian.

_'But I haven't eaten properly in three nights...I might like it, I've never tried'_

It was at this point Everett was introduced to a new face.  
One that was sitting in the chair next to her bed, a face she would soon grow to dislike.

He sat, watching her, like a bird of prey. Blue eyes cold and calculating and splitting the already split ends of his long black hair in, what could have been, thought.

"I can watch over her now Mister Count if you have better things you would like to do"

He didn't seem to realise that someone was talking to him

_'Or maybe he does and he doesn't care' _

There was a slight uncomfortable pause as this...Mister Count...turned to, what was an educated guess, the Nurse, his tone suave and carrying hints of a dark tinted edge.

"That's quite alright. I have some questions I'd like to ask the girl anyway"

He waved her away disrespectfully, shooing her from the room. She gave him a disapproving look and made her exit.

Everett made eye contact with Count and stood her ground, metaphorically speaking. He eyed her equally, a sinister smile playing on his lips.  
He hissed viciously at her, fangs bared. Her insides jumped but outwardly she didn't flinch.

Count laughed a little, but it was more out of disappointment.

"Usually when people meet a vampire, me in particular, screaming endures" he stated.

Everett cocked her head to one side trying to look as innocent as possible "What's so important about you? Why are you so great?"

He blinked, started and stared at her shocked. He stuttered and gaped like a fish out of water.

_'Drama Queen'_

He closed his eyes to calm himself and looked at her a moment later, disappointment and anger filling his gaze as he bent down to her height.

"I, am the famous, Count-"

"Master! Master!"

The Count started again as an ugly bald man dressed in an untidy butler uniform pelted into the room.

"What is it now Renfield?!"

But Renfield was too preoccupied with pointing and staring at Everett "YOU?! It's you!"

Everett fidgeted awkwardly under his scrutinising gaze and his Masters confused one.

She breathed in through her nose and replied as evenly as she could.

"Yes it's me. I'm just surprised I recognise you not covered in flour"

"Well actually it wasn't flour it was-"

"Not now you imbecile! How do you know her?!" The Count yelled

Renfield jumped slightly then put on a brave face.

"She's that_ "hallucination" _I was telling you about"

when he said hallucination he attempted to exaggerate quotation marks, but they ended up a weird flail of sorts.

The Count leaned in close to Renfield's face

"Don't get snippy with me" his voice becoming an echoed growl.

Renfield gulped "Sorry Master"

The Count turned to Everett

"Slayers were looking for you last night" he stated off handedly.

"So, what's your name girl?" his tone lighter to the moments prior.

Everett stared at him waryingly, before answering him "Ainsley, Everett Ainsley"

"Well Ainsley, Everett Ainsley. I am Count Dracula. And you, are a vampire"

Everett gave him a look

_'Thank you Captain Obvious!'_

"Um, no sorry. I'm not, but I have had dealings with Vampires before and I smell food. Can I eat?"

Without waiting for reply she reached for the bread biting into it happily.

The Count looked at her confused, then sat down on the bed next to her and she looked at him oddly

_'He's a little too friendly to be The Price of Darkness'_

"I could've sworn I smelled Vampire on you" he stated, his look inquisitive and calculating.

"That's no fault of yours, really, I get that a lot. I have other Vampire friends that I do things for, so it's kinda like a protection feature when dealing with new Vamps"  
She had to tell these lies to protect herself.

The Count made a face, almost as if he agreed with her.

It was then the brunette woman from before trotted into the room.

The Count sprang up from the bed like it had burned him.

"Miss McCauley, I was just having a little chat with our guest" he purred.

Renfield rolled his eyes as Everett raised a brow _'He really is quite friendly isn't he' _

"Very good Mister Count"

The McCauley woman pulled away from the Count and sat down on the bed in front of Everett feeling her forehead again.

The Count practically ran from the room, Renfield in tow.

"How are you feeling now?" asked McCauley

"Better now. My name's Everett by the way" she answered back

"Hello Everett, I'm Alex McCauley, Headmistress of Garside Grange. Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?"

Everett shook her head and McCauley continued "Everett, you're clothes were saturated when I found you this morning. Were you out last night?"

Everett nodded.

"Why were you out in the middle of a thunder storm?"

Everett breathed out heavily scratching the back of her neck "I was running, away. From people who wanted to hurt me"

McCauley looked at her seriously "Why did they want to hurt you?"

Everett shrugged and looked away

"Do you have any family you can contact? Anyone you can call to let them know you're alright?"

Everett felt a pang in her chest at the mention of family and she shook her head

"I don't have any family. They're all dead, killed by the same people who were hunting me"

McCauley took her hand and held it firm "Have you let the authorities know?"

Everett looked her dead in the eye and felt the woman stiffen under her gaze

"They're smart powerful people Miss McCauley; the authorities mean nothing to them"

McCauley took a moment to compose herself

"Do you have anywhere to stay? Anywhere that you were staying before you found the school?"

"I was living in a cave not too far from here. It did me good until they found me"

McCauley looked at her amused and disapprovingly "Well we can't have you living in a cave. That can be very lonely after a time"

She took a moment to think "Unfortunately you can't live with me-"

_'Good__, you're not dinner!'_

"-My flat's too small, but maybe, if I ask nicely, Mister Count could take you in, he has a son and a daughter about your age too! I'll go ask him now"

And with that she left, leaving Everett to wonder what had just occurred, and whether or not it was a miracle in nightmare form.


	3. Chapter 3

The Count had called the attention of his household to the Throne Room.

Vlad, Ingrid and Wolfie were seated in front of the Throne with Renfield standing behind and between Vlad and Ingrid. The Count sat on his throne watching them watch him.

Vlad felt he'd had enough "Did you call us here for a staring competition, or did you actually have something to say?"  
"Yeah, I have better things I'd rather be biting!" Ingrid grinned evilly as Vlad tried to calm his agitated nerves "Don't even joke-"

"Quite. I have something to say. As you all know, last night we had an uninvited number of Slayers show up on our doorstep. They told us they were on the hunt for a vampire, well, I may have found our Vampire"

Vlad sighed, frustrated again "I knew it! What did you do this time Ingrid?!"  
She looked at him flabbergasted "Wha-ME! I haven't done anything!"

"QUITE!" The Counts voice reverberated throughout the small room. Wolfie whined "Unfortunately Ingrid's telling the truth this time. She has done nothing wrong" The Count almost growled this out, disappointed that he didn't have a valid reason to be rid of her, at least that's what he'd let her think.

Ingrid snapped a 'Thanks' clearly upset.

"As I was saying. I may have found our Vampire, but after questioning said Vampire I have come to the conclusion that they had the misfortune of being the victim of an unprovoked Slayer attack. That and they're actually breather who has Vampire friends"

Everyone blinked.

Ingrid was the first to speak "How do you know?"  
"How do I know what?"  
"How do you know they're telling the truth?! How do you know they're not lying?!"

The Count smirked knowingly "Why don't you ask her yourself? She's been sitting on top of that display cabinet for half an hour"

All eyes turned to the display cabinet where a black clad figure could be seen lying draped across the top of it.

"HER! I thought she was a victim of yours!" said Ingrid loudly.

Said body snorted and dropped a hand to let it dangle, Wolfie was on his feet in a second barking and jumping at the cabinet.  
A disgruntled 'Down boy' escaped her lips as she rolled off the top of the cabinet, Ingrid only just managing to pull her baby brother out of the way.

The figure stretched, several loud cracks emitting from her body "You just had to go and yell at each other didn't you. I was sleeping peacefully"

She pushed off her hood revealing short cropped red hair and blue eyes.

She turned to Wolfie and ruffled his hair, and then she smiled at him a genuine apologetic smile "Sorry if I scared you kid"  
Ingrid pulled her brother closer, shocked and disgusted.

Then the stranger turned to the Count "I can't thank you enough for taking me in Count Dracula"

Vlad turned to stare at his father wide eyed _'Did she just say what I think she said?!'  
_

The Count smiled as kindly as he could, which for him was not at all.  
"You're very welcome. I still don't know how you managed to get up there" He said, indicating to the cabinet "But, I'll leave you to conduct your own introductions as I have other important matters to attend to" he flashed out of the room, Renfield quickly following him, leaving those left in the room to eye each other off.

Ingrid blinked a few times, glaring daggers at the new intruder "It's obviously some sick joke"

"You're putting us all in danger just by being here! There are probably Vampires as well as The Slayers looking for you and we have communications with them almost every day. Give me one good reason why I shouldn't hand you over to them!" Vlad spoke

"Because this wasn't my idea. In fact it was never my idea to stick around in the first place. I just stayed the night to keep out of the way, then I was gonna be on my way"

"You spent the night here?!"

"And you didn't even know I was here. Anyway I came down this morning and passed out in front of one of your teachers- "

"Wait, that was you?!"

She stopped pursing her lips in annoyance staring at Ingrid "Yes it was me, what's it matter to you?"

"I helped carry you to the nurses office"

"Oh!" she blew hair out of her face, still annoyed "Well then I guess I owe you thanks, but no more interruptions please. Anyway it was your principal Miss McCauley that suggested I stay. So she went off to find your dad and next thing I know he's telling me that I'm staying with you. Your father seems softer in attitude than I would've thought"

The room fell into silence as everyone stared at each other

"Yeah, well, dad is softer in the head when it comes to McCauley" Vlad stated


	4. Chapter 4

**I've just started watching season 5 of Young Dracula, so to give some clarification, this story takes place between the time of the last episode of season 4 and before Vlad takes off (as is said in the first episode of season 5)**

**At a later date, I may start a new Young Dracula story which takes place during season 5. But we'll see how this one goes first.**

**Enjoy the chapter.**

****RomanTinkerBell****

* * *

Vlad showed her to a spare room with a spare coffin.  
She didn't really like coffins and didn't understand why Vampires insisted on sleeping in them.  
If anything it made you more of a target to the Slayers.

Maybe it was an inbred thing?  
Her mother had insisted that she sleep in a coffin, just like the rest of the family on that side, just to keep pretences if anything.

"Ingrid's not going to be too happy when she finds out you're wearing her clothes"  
"I'm surprised she didn't notice earlier" Everett answered Vlad as she took off the coat she was wearing.

"Thanks for the room" she said

"Well if you insist on staying here you're gonna need somewhere to sleep. Now if you'll excuse me, I have important things to attend to. Sorry we don't have any beds" he left, leaving Everett to stare at his back

_'Jerk'_

She stared at the coffin, which was simple Wood Oak with softened silk interior, and wondered if it had been taken out of the ground

_'Mum always had hidden air holes in the one back home. They expect me to leave the lid open. Maybe I should just take the lid off?'_

She set to work pulling the hinges apart, but she forgot to close the door.  
She was rather alarmed when a curious voice rang through her ears "What are you doing?"

She zoomed to the doorway, making Wolfie take a step back in surprise.  
She released the breath she's taken and placed a hand on his head "God kid. You gave me a fright" he growled happily as she scratched him behind his ear.

She led him into the room and shut the door "I'm removing the lid on the coffin. I hate confined spaces" she moved to continue what she was doing.

"You're lying. I can smell it"  
she viciously pulled out one of the bolts "Okay" she said "If I'm lying, what do you think is the truth?"  
"You're like me" he told her.

She stopped what she was doing and turned to look at him "Like you how kid?"  
"You're half Vampire"  
"And how do you know that?"  
"You sped to the door"

She thought back and realised she had done so unintentionally

_'Shit'_

"Plus a normal human wouldn't be able to do that, that easily" he finished, pointing to the metal in her hand.

She gave a short laugh "Well, ya got me kid. I am half Vamp. And that's the reason Slayers were chasing me last night. Not because I help Vamps. Now you wanna help me with the rest of these hinges?" She held out the hand with the hinges and he allowed her to drop them into his hands.  
She continued with her task.

"But kid. You can't tell anyone else. There are people out there who wouldn't like the idea of a Vamp that can walk in the sun or is immune to Garlic Gas...slightly immune" she said this last part under her breath but was sure he heard it anyway  
"Not only would I be killed, I'd probably be experimented on"

"Wouldn't you just ash?"

Wolfie's question was valid, considering that's what Vampires did when they were killed  
"I'm only half Vampire. So no, I wouldn't"  
she pulled out the last bolt and dropped it in his hand. "You dump those somewhere, and I'll take care of the lid.

Wolfie nodded and exited the room completely.

Everett then set to the task of moving the heavy lid elsewhere. It was about an hour before she could breathe easily again, Wolfie hadn't returned and she could only assume that he was causing trouble, only she couldn't imagine how.

"I was wondering where my shirt had gotten to"

Everett looked up to see Ingrid leaning in the doorway "My clothes were soaked, I was given these. I'll have them dry cleaned for you don't worry"

"Oh no, it's quite alright. I gave them to McCauley for you to wear. They were old anyway, I've worn them twice"  
"And here I didn't think you could be nice"

Ingrid only shrugged "I'm about to be nice again and offer you a tour of the school"

Everett was no fool. She had an empathic ability and could feel Ingrid's falsity in her no matter what fine words she used.  
But Everett did need to know where she was and so agreed to Ingrid's offer.

* * *

Ingrid had led her down stairs and was showing her through the passages of the school.

There wasn't much to show in all honesty, but Ingrid quietly explained the night time escapades of the school as they went along.  
"Sorry, which way's the bathroom? I'm feeling a little warm and need to splash my face" Ingrid told her and Everett walked off.

Everett entered the bathroom and gripped one of the sinks looking to her reflection.

There was no one else in the room; otherwise she would've heard the pulse beat.

She stared herself in the eye and her reflection stood straight folding its arms _"So when are we leaving?"_  
She moved away from the mirror but her reflection stayed put, staring at her back

"We can't leave now, it would be too suspicious" she answered her reflection

_"I didn't say now, but we have to leave soon! As soon as they find out about you they'll do what others have tried to do"  
_"I know. But the timing's not right, and if I keep playing human it might give us a chance"  
_"But how d'you know that the kid won't tell"_

Everett faltered, but she couldn't disagree with the logic "Hopefully he won't tell. We can only trust him for now"

_"I'm tired of playing pretend!"  
_"Well deal with it! You're gonna have to a while longer!"

Her reflection huffed and moved out of view. Everett sighed and rolled her eyes

_'Reflections can be so temperamental!'_

She made her exit.

* * *

She ran into McCauley outside

"Ah, Everett. I was hoping I would see you again today. It occurred to me after I left that, even though Mr Count has allowed you to stay with his family, the only way you would be able to stay permanently is if you were to attend the school. Mr Count has already signed the papers but of course you should know seeing as you'll be the one attending"

Everett's face paled at the thought going to school.  
She'd never been to school before, but her father had taught her the essentials like Math and English, things like that. Of course that was only after her mother was staked when she was ten. Her father died four years later.

"I've never been to school before Miss McCauley" She told her openly  
"Oh. You were home schooled?" the principal questioned her.

Everett bit her lip before answering "Only for a short while. After that I was on my own"

"How short is 'A short while'?" McCauley asked

"Four and a half years..."  
"Well that's no good. It is my opinion that everyone should be educated so they have a chance to live their life the way they want, to the best of their ability"

It may have made sense to McCauley, but Everett was just confused.

"You start tomorrow morning at eight-thirty sharp" McCauley told Everett as she returned to her office.

McCauley had kept her longer than she thought and Ingrid had gone off to do something else with her time.

She wandered through the halls until she found the stairs that led up and made her way back to her room. Unaware that she was being watched by a careful set of blue eyes.


	5. Chapter 5

**I must apologise for how long I'm taking to post chapters.**

**I have no more pre-written chapters and a bout of Writers Block, don't you just hate it when that happens!  
If you can bear with me that would be fantastic and I'll try my hardest to post sooner.**

**RomanTinkerBell**

* * *

School actually wasn't bad for Everett.  
It turned out she was very bright and a quick learner.

McCauley was ecstatic about her marks, though Everett couldn't understand why she was so ecstatic. Even the Count was surprisingly impressed by her, commenting...something, something 'for a girl'.

The nights were still interesting though, especially at dinner.

Renfield insisted on cooking up disgusting dishes that she couldn't possibly consume. And it was hard for her to sneak out to hunt when the whole family insisted on staying in.

She wondered how long it would take for them to become suspicious.

On this particular night she was seated in the wooded area nearby, next to a fire she'd built, roasting a few drained squirrels she'd caught earlier, when she heard movement close to her.

She stood to attention. She didn't dare let her fangs drop, just in case it was Slayers or another Vamp.

A young, dark skinned man around her age appeared from behind some bushes.

When he saw her he aimed his UV Gun at her "Who are you?! What are you doing near Garside?"  
He looked towards her small fire when he smelt the cooking "What's that?"

She held her hands up in surrender, even though his gun would have no real affect on her. "I was just out here hunting squirrels"

He looked at her confused and a little disgusted "Squirrels?"

She nodded and carefully made her way over to the fire to show him. "They're actually quite nice with a little mint"

the fact that she was cooking the meat seemed to prove that she wasn't a Vampire, well to him at least, and he lowered his gun commenting that there were other, better, things to eat.

"Like what?"  
"Like Pizza" he said "I can buy you some if you like?"  
Her brow raised and she smiled.  
She put out the fire and told him to lead the way.

* * *

"Wait, wait! So, you're a Slayer?" Jonno asked Everett

"No, no." She laughed lightly "My father was a Slayer; I didn't take up the family business. But he did teach me a thing or two"  
"Anyone I would know?" he asked.

Everett shook her head "I doubt it"

But that was far from the truth.

Her father, Samuel Ainsley, was known by Slayers all over the U.K, at least. Maybe event he whole of Europe.

He was the first slayer to be tried and killed by The Slayers Guild for associating and marrying a Vampire.  
What was worse was they had a child together.  
And if Slayers didn't hate Vampire before, they certainly would when they found her. A vamp that could walk in the sun was a threat even the Vamps didn't like.

"You keep asking about me. What about you?" Everett questioned, leaving her crust to sit on her plate "What about your dad? Is he a Slayer?"

Jonno looked down at his empty plate sadly. Everett figured that this wasn't really going to be a pleasant conversation.

Jonno breathed in "My father was attacked by Vampires. He's dead"

Everett was silent. She knew there was nothing that could be said.

"I'm still tender about it, but I've learned to move forward" he finished

Everett reached across and gripped his hand. He silently marvelled at the warmth of her palm.  
"Well what about your mum? Is she a slayer like you?"  
"Yeah. She's the Chairwoman of the Slayers Guild"  
"Cool"

Jonno then looked at his watch "I should be getting back now, mum will be wondering where I am. D'you want to meet her? See the Headquarters?"

_'It seems like he's taken a shine to me'_

"Umm...I don't know..." She was nervous now, no doubt someone would recognise her and the Dracula's had more than likely realised her absence by now.

But Jonno was insistent and eventually twisted her arm. So she reluctantly followed him out of the Pizzeria

* * *

Jonno lead her to concrete building surrounded by a high razor wire fence.  
He lead her inside where she was greeted by UV lights and the intense smell of Garlic

_'Maybe this wasn't such a good idea!'_

"I never did give you a valid reason as to why I didn't become a Slayer"

Jonno stared at Everett as she gagged and fell against the wall

"One reason; because I'm allergic to Garlic!"

Jonno jumped to his senses and pushed her back outside. "You stay out here I'll get help!"

He ran back inside and Everett stumbled out further pulling her EpiPen from her pocket and stabbing it into her leg, breathing a sigh of relief as she felt it take effect.

Jonno re-emerged half a minute later with a woman by his side.  
She was carrying a bottle in one hand and a UV Gun in the other.

Everett stared at them both upside down from her spot where she lay on the path.

He knelt down beside her "Are you okay?"  
She showed him her EpiPen "Never go anywhere without it"

She returned her eyes to the woman staring down at her and she let a breathy "Hi" escape her lips.

* * *

Mina Van Helsing observed the girl as she downed the contents of the bottle.

She was definitely human, Mina could see the red flush of the girls cheeks even in the limited light that surrounded the building.  
"Are you alright now?" she asked the girl.

Everett nodded and held out a hand "I'm Ev"

Mina didn't take the girls hand as she'd been previously refilling the Garlic Guns.  
"I'd better not, I've been handling Garlic. But I'm Mina Van Helsing"  
"It's nice to meet you Mrs Van Helsing" Everrett replied

Jonno looked between the two with a small smile "I brought her here to see the headquarters. Her father's a Slayer"  
"Was" Everett corrected "He's dead"

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to be rude but how do we know you're from a Slayer family? How can we trust you?" Mina's question was justified.

Everett pulled down the neck of her shirt to reveal a small decorative 'S' crossed with a Stake tattooed onto her right shoulder  
"My father had me get it just for situations like this"

Mina stared at the girl in shock

Everett gave a small, somewhat arrogant, smile "Believe me now?"


	6. Chapter 6

**I've been working hard all week to write respectable chapters for the story. So here's the next chapter and I hope you like it.**

**I've also decided to try something I've never done before and put in flash backs of Everett's life growing up, so hopefully all you readers will enjoy that too.**

**RomanTinkerBell**

* * *

_(Nineteen Years Ago)_

_Alina Calvetti returned home after three years absence.  
She was not at all thrilled to be home.  
She'd left after her late husband had been staked by some Slayers, not that she really cared. She'd never liked Maxim Nielsen from the beginning and was all too aware of her father's insatiable need to sell her off for money. He was beyond rich himself, but like every Vampire, he wanted more._

_Alina used to be that way too, until she met __**him**__.  
__**He**__ made her realise that she can have everything and be happy if she just allowed herself to be. She found herself wanting nothing more than __**him**__ and his company. She didn't think she could be any happier._

_But her family were proud traditionalists, they wouldn't approve of the small private wedding or the fact that it had taken her three years to tell them of it._

_She gently ran her fingers over the floral pattern of the dress that stretched over her swelled stomach.  
The Taxi driver tried to catch a glimpse of her in his rear view mirror and was convinced she was just at the right angle that he couldn't see her._

_The car stopped at an intersection and the driver turned around to face his passenger._

_"44 Crescent Street. You need any help with the bags?" he asked her in Finnish._

_He gazed at the beautiful, pale woman through the glass that separated them. He couldn't remember seeing anyone like her before. _

_Large doe eyes that were sapphire blue in colour, set into a face that was devoid of any sharp features and framed by curling waves of chestnut hair. She was thin, but not too thin that it looked skeletal or sickly. She was perfect._

_"No, thank you. I can manage from here" her voice was melodic and as gentle as a feather falling onto a bed of clouds. She gave him a dizzying smile, showing her brilliant white teeth._

_She picked up her handbag and other smaller possessions that littered the backseat of the cab while the driver popped the boot and got out to pull her suitcase from it.  
He did so quickly and then moved to her, as she seemed to be having trouble getting out of the vehicle._

_She thanked him again and took grip of the handle of her suitcase that had been previously set on the sidewalk. _

_She stood under the light of the street lamp, staring up at the mansion that sat just on the hill a ways away. Her eyes then fell to the locked and bolted gate that stood in front of her and the long walk that was the driveway, which awaited her._

_"Do they know you're coming?" the Driver asked her  
"No" she sighed "But I doubt they knew I was ever gone" she said this more to herself then him._

_She paid him what he was owed and watched as he u-turned and drove away, giving him a friendly wave as he passed her again.  
She stood there a while longer, making sure he was out of sight, before she dashed over the gate._

_She caught herself on the other side before she face planted into the gravel, she'd never been able to land on her feet.  
The baby moved a little at her sudden actions and she caressed her stomach until it was settled again. She then began the long trek up the driveway to the front door._

_It would be half an hour before she reached the front door and it would start to rain, soaking through her thin cardigan and chilling her to the bone.  
Which was odd, because Vampires don't get chills._

* * *

Everett sat between Jonno and Mina listening to their conversation.

It turned out; Jonno was a former friend of Vlads and had been at Garside the other night as a final farewell. Mina was disappointed, as she wanted eyes and ears inside Garside to keep an eye on the Dracula family.

Everett held up her hand in silence waiting for them to notice, and when they did, she let her idea fall like rain.

"I'm living at Garside with the Dracula's"

Mina jumped up and fired her weapon but, as Everett had found out before, it had no effect.

"Before you condemn me, be rational and listen. I'm only living there..." she sighed to herself "...because some slayers chased me there the other night. The reason, I have Vampire associates that I occasionally help out and they me in return. I'm not a Slayer, but I can keep an eye on them and stop them if I have to and I've had to a couple of times"

"Why didn't you tell me any of this when we met?!" Jonno asked her

"Because it had the bad reaction I thought it would!"

Mina and Jonno looked to each other and then back to Everett  
"You know you can trust me, otherwise I wouldn't have said anything"

Mina seemed to take her words into consideration.  
"Alright, you can prove yourself by being our man on the inside. I'll give you a bug and I want you to place it somewhere in the Throne Room. I'm assuming you know where that is"

Everett nodded "Mission accepted ma'am"

Mina returned back inside the building, Jonno hot on her heels, fuming.

_'Let the entertainment begin'_

* * *

She returned to Garside Grange with the listening device in the pocket of her coat, entering through the kitchen door and meeting Renfield who was in the middle of...something.

"Hey Renfield" she greeted him happily.

He looked up at her from what he was doing, a disgruntled look on his face "Oh. Hello"

"What's the matter?" Everett's brow crinkled in concern

"The Master wants me to make a potion that will turn Miss McCauley without him having to bite her"

"Why doesn't someone else bite her if he doesn't want to. I'm sure Ingrid will be more than willing"

Renfield made a noise but didn't answer her question, choosing to dispose of the contents of the vial onto the stone floor beneath their feet.  
It sizzled and broke into flame, to which Renfield began to try to stamp it out and Everett grabbed a saucepan by the sink and started to fill it with water, dumping it over the quickly rising flames, which were beginning to turn blue.

Renfield gave a cry and even Everett screamed.

There was a rush of air and The Count appeared in the doorway "Renfield!"

He snapped his fingers and the flames were out in a second.

Vlad appeared at his side "What's going on here? Why is everyone screaming?" his eyes landed on Everett "What did you do?!"

"Oh that's nice! Blame the breather girl why don't you!"

"Say that louder so the Vampires in the other room hear you why don't you! At least then you'll be out of my hair!"

"Well, look at that. The first girl he despises and it's a breather" The Count said to Renfield

"Shut Up!" Vlad and Everett said united.

The Count and Renfield started and moved backward slightly, clutching to each other. When The Count noticed this he pushed Renfield away roughly and dusted himself off.

"What about the Vamps in the other room?" Everett asked, The Count gave a wide grin and moved forward to her "We're reopening the Blood Bank. Maybe you'd like to come and uhh...have a look?"

Vlad growled out a commanding 'Dad!' but Everett silenced him quickly with a dismissive wave of her hand.  
The Count sniggered a little at the thought of his son being ordered around by a breather girl

"I always like to meet new people" she answered him.

The Count gave a laugh and, throwing an arm around her, led her from the room.

Vlad watched them disappear down the hall before turning to Renfield. "What are you doing in here? I thought you were supposed to be helping serve?"

"I was" said Renfield "But The Master wanted me to do something. Then Miss Everett arrived and everything went up in flames, literally"

"Did she cause the fire?" Vlad accused

"No, no, I dropped one of the vials. She was helping to put it out when your father came in. No, she came in from outside and we were having a lovely conversation before everything happened"

"She came in from outside? Did she tell you why she was outside?"

Renfield shook his head.

Vlad sighed and rolled his eyes, dashing out of the room and back down the hall.


	7. Chapter 7

_(Fifteen Years Ago)_

_Count Dante Calvetti sat in the office of his friend and leader of the Vampire High Council._

_Morgan sat across from him, watching his stressed friend as he cradled his aching head._

_"Morgan" Dante began his voice gruff and tired "I need help. I have kept this for so long because I was so afraid of the consequences. But I cannot keep it any longer. My daughter has disgraced the family name!" _

_Morgan removed his spectacles, placing them on the desk in front of him. He didn't really need them, but he liked how they made him seem superior._

_"Be calm Dante, and tell me, from the beginning, what has happened" _

_"It all started four years ago. Alina returned home after disappearing for three years, after the death of her late husband, Maxim Nielsen. She was pregnant, she told us that she had re-married and that she was happy but that he was to be away for a few years for business reasons. It was odd, but her mother and I didn't press the matter. We were not pleased that she'd done this and not consulted us first, but there was nothing to be done"_

_Morgan observed his friend as he stared to shake __**'It seems the memories still affect him'**__ he noted_

_Dante breathed out to calm himself some, but it didn't really have an effect_

_"She was seven months pregnant at the time, two and a half months later she had the baby, a girl. It still disappoints me that I have no male heir" _

_Morgan gave a chuckle "Well, these things cannot be helped. They just happen"_

_Dante nodded.  
"She had the child, but I knew something was wrong as soon as I saw it. I just cannot decipher what it is! It still bothers me after four years! Fausta keeps telling me that it is all in my head, but I don't think so"_

_"What is it you want me to do, old friend?" Morgan asked_

_"I need you to conduct an investigation. But Alina and Fausta cannot know." Dante said desperately _

_"Of course Dante. How can anyone be investigated if they know they are" Morgan stated "We will start with the father of the child. Do you know anything about him? His name, his where abouts, his family tree perhaps?"_

_"No. I know nothing about the father" _

_"Well then I suppose we will have to start with the child. Tell me, what is it exactly that you find so odd about her?"_

* * *

Everett saw some old acquaintances of hers in the blood bank's hall, it didn't bother her that they were there and in fact it made her proud that they were still finding other avenues to feed themselves rather than biting.

She made her way behind the bar, where Ingrid was situated.

A few of the newer eyes followed her as she moved, obviously they'd heard her pulse and could smell the breather half of her...and probably the garlic from the Slayers Guild. Ingrid verified that for her

"You reek of Garlic! What have you been doing?"

"I had dinner at an Italian Pizzeria" Everett told her honestly

Ingrid blinked "Oh. Well that's one way to keep a biter off your back"

"Your dad's senses must be going. He didn't smell it on me and now he's probably going to be itching all night"

Ingrid grinned like a mad man, enjoying the thought. She turned to face Everett "I think you and I are going to get along, just fine"

"I don't know whether that's a good thing or not" Everett told her.

"Trust me, it's a good thing" Ingrid verified with a gentle nod "I don't get along with most people. As you may already know. And I tend not to lend my clothes to people I don't know or like either" she finished with a smile.

There was a knock on the counter in front of them and they both turned to face a tall, platinum blonde, brown eyed, twenty something half-fang standing on the other side.

"Ev! It is you!"

"Daniel!" She jumped up to sit on the counter and hugged him as best she could, him returning her hug.

"What are you doing here Ev? I went to the club but it was all closed up" Daniel said

"Slayers. What else. They found out about the club and made moves to shut it down. In other words, they burst in and dusted half my clients. Castelle managed to get me out but I don't know what happened to him after that" she told him

He pet her affectionately on the head "Your hairs grown, your roots are showing" he commented off handedly

"Excuse me. Yeah. Hi. Who're you?" Ingrid pulled the attention of the two

"Ingrid, this is Daniel. He's a friend of mine from a while back" Everett answered her

"And what's this about a club?"

Daniel and Everett smiled to each other "You get the drinks, we'll get this party started" Everett said

* * *

Vlad and The Count had stepped out for two minutes to get more blood bags, only to return to an all out party.

Everett and Ingrid were dancing on the Bar, enjoying themselves and at their feet were a few half-fangs hissing at any others that got too close. The music was loud, so loud the blood in the glasses was rippling. Standing close to the door observing the scene was a tall, platinum blonde half-fang leaning against the wall. Vlad made his way over to him.

"What's going on here?!"

"Just having a bit of fun mate" The half-fang told him

"Well this "bit of fun" could cause many problems for Ainsley. She is a breather after all. I can smell her blood boiling from here" Vlad shouted over the music

"Ahh, don't worry about her! She can take care of herself. She owned The Bite Club for a few years after all"

_'The Bite Club?'_

"What's The Bite Club?" Vlad asked him

The half-fang finally looked to him.  
"The Bite Club** was**-" he emphasized the word 'was'  
"-a club that doubled as a blood bank. It was like every other club with dancing and alcohol, but it was an exclusive club, Vamps only"

Everett was singing now, with all the confidence she could muster. She wasn't bad either, in fact she was rather good singing Demi Lovato's I Really Don't Care at full power.  
The other half-fangs weren't trying to bite anymore. They were enjoying themselves now, starting to dance and even sing along if they knew the words.

Even The Count was joining in.

Vlad sighed and began to move forward to fix the scene but his father jumped in front of him.

"Vladdy, let them have their party. They're not causing any harm. In fact it looks like fun, I might even join them...maybe...anyway, it looks like she's made some friends, look, look! It looks like they're protecting her! And like the half-fang said, she can take care of herself. She's apparently done this before"

Vlad sighed again and turned to the half-fang "Listen-"

"Daniel" the blonde told him

"-Daniel, how did she look after herself before?"

"Well" Daniel began "she had a number of Vegetarian Vampire friends that she employed as staff and bodyguards, myself included. That and she's the kid of an Ex-Slayer"

Vlad and The Count stared "A Slayer?!"

"Ex-Slayer!" Daniel verified "She never became a Slayer herself, but she certainly knows how to defend herself against a Vampire"

Vlads mouth hung agape and The Count was starting to stutter "A Slayer is a Slayer, even if they didn't become one to begin with!" he finally threw out

"Half the Vamps here were her clients; it's why they're protecting her. She's an unofficial Vampire" Daniel stated

Vlad and The Count stared at the girl dancing on the bar next to the female Dracula, who took a sip of something from a bottle and then passed it on.

A conversation would have to be had later on.


	8. Chapter 8

"What were you thinking?! If anyone from the school finds out what happened tonight we'll be chucked out for sure!"

"No-one has to find out Vlad" Everett told him evenly

"You're damn right they don't!" he told her "I don't want you staying here another minute longer. Take the few possessions you have and go!"

"I'm not going anywhere" she told him softly, her tone borderline deadly.

Vlad felt a shiver run down his spine as he stared her in the eye. She was unmoving and that un-nerved him. He'd only ever seen that look on his father; even Ingrid wore it from time to time just to annoy him.  
It was a look only a Vampire could have.

"Besides, I can look after myself" she said

"Yeah. Your mate Daniel told us so. So when were you going to tell us you're the child of a Slayer?" he expected Ingrid to be shocked by this reveal of information, but she didn't even flinch, she even answered for Everett.

"He was an Ex-Slayer and he's dead. He made friends with some Vamps and decided to stop killing them. She's no threat to us"

Vlad turned to her. Now it was her turn.

"And you! I expected you would've caused trouble, but not like this! I would've expected you to go behind my back and invite breathers in. But now you and Everett are going to clean up the mess you've made! I suggest you be careful where you step, several of them broke glasses"

Five sets of eyes followed him as he left.

Everett turned to Ingrid "I thought if anyone was gonna go off it would be him" she said pointing to The Count.

"I thought it went well" he told her, all suave like "I was even enjoying myself"

"Is he always like this?" Everett asked the room.

It was a unanimous 'Yes'

"Well the next task is to try and pull the stick out" she stated.

Ingrid snorted and fell into fits of giggles and The Count chuckled in his throat, Renfield and Wolfie look at each other confused.

"Renfield" started The Count "Go and clean the blood bank"

"But I thought Master Vlad wanted Mistress Ingrid and Everett to clean the blood bank" Renfield said

"And I'm telling you to do it. Take the girls with you if you want, if only to keep pretences"

"Why is he being so nice?" Everett whispered to Ingrid.  
Ingrid only shrugged, as clueless as Everett was.

* * *

_(Ten Years Ago) _

_"I love you too darling. We'll meet you back at the house tomorrow night" Alina hung up the phone and resumed packing when a small voice caught her attention._

_"Mummy? Will I like Daddy when I meet him?" _

_She looked toward her little daughter, who stood at the door, looking like a little ghost in her white satin nightgown.  
Alina gestured for her daughter to come to her and she picked her little girl up to stand her on top of her coffin_

_"Of course you will angel and he's very anxious to meet you"_

_"What does Daddy do?"_

_The young girl watched as her mother packed a dress into her suitcase, they were nothing like the dresses her grandmother wore._

_"He's a soldier angel; he fights for the good, to protect us"_

_"I wish you would not tell her those lies darling. And that revolting pet name! She will not be an 'angel' for long!" _

_Fausta Calvetti entered the small room in a sweeping manner. Her long, extravagant dress following her.  
"She will be biting breathers and sleeping in a coffin in no time"_

_Fausta made an indication for the girl to get off the coffin. Alina sighed and rolled her eyes at her mother's complaints. They'd been going on since she'd come home nine years ago._

_Fausta complained when Alina told her she was married, more so because she hadn't told them earlier.  
She complained when Alina told them she was going to raise the child as she saw fit, emphasizing that it may not be as Vampiric as they would like.  
She had complained, loudly, when Alina said she wanted to put her daughter through school, unfortunately, her parents had won that argument. _

_They also won the argument about sleeping arrangements. _

_Alina's daughter now had her own coffin in her own room, which was painted a gloomy dark grey.  
Alina had complained about the colour of the room commenting that it was a little girls room and shouldn't be painted such a dismal colour, even a rich purple would've been better.  
Fausta told her it was Tombstone Grey and all the rage. _

_Her mother was very fashionable. _

_"So you are really leaving then?" her mother's voice questioned, breaking her train of thought._

_Alina placed the last item in her suitcase and closed it up tight._

_"Yes mother. We'll be leaving at sundown. I've called a taxi to come pick us up, so you don't have to worry about the car dropping us anywhere"_

_"I do not understand your fascination with breather ideals. It is bad enough your now 'Vegetarian' as you call it. It saddens me that my Granddaughter will be raised the same way. She will not know her ancestry!"_

_"Mother! She is my daughter! I will raise her how I see fit! If later on she wants to be a fully fledged Vampire, fangs bared and all, then I won't stop her. But for now she's a child...and I want her to be happy! Angel, are you all packed?"_

_Her angel nodded._

_Alina zoomed to her daughters room and back holding the little, lilac trundle suitcase that belonged to her daughter, packed with the few possessions that she had. She took her daughters hand.  
"We're leaving, now!" she said pointedly to Fausta._

_Fausta watched them leave the room together._

_It still made her shudder, after all these years, how much her Granddaughter looked like Alina when she was small._

_She heard the little girl ask whether or not she would have to sleep in a coffin from then on._

_"No angel, you don't have to"_

_"Good. Because I don't like it!" _

_The girl had spunk, that couldn't be denied._


	9. Chapter 9

"So what's the deal with you and Daniel?"

Everett and Ingrid were seated at one of the empty tables in the blood bank whilst Renfield swept at the mess around them. It was six in the morning, dawn time.

"I didn't take you for a gossip Ingrid. Or is someone interested in a certain half-fang?" Everett teased with a smirk as she took a sip of her Vodka

"I gossip because I'm a woman and I'm not interested in anything but power" Ingrid told her returning her smirk "Speaking of power, you seemed to have a hold of the population here tonight. What's your secret?"

"I have a good time and make sure others are too. Being a breather and knowing they expect it from me helps too. It keeps me from getting killed" Everett told her honestly

"I suppose the alcohol helps too?" Ingrid already knew the answer and chuckled along with Everett

There was silence between them and the air for a few minutes, occasionally being broken by the sound of Renfield's brush.  
Ingrid finally dispensed with the silence.

"Where were you earlier tonight? Vlad told me to make sure you were out of the way of everything, but I couldn't find you anywhere! And don't give me that Italian Restaurant Routine! I went looking for you at around eleven o'clock and it was two-thirty when you turned up. No-one is out to dinner that long"

Everett debated whether or not to tell her about meeting the Van Helsing's and bugging the Throne Room.  
Eventually a wicked smile played along her lips.

"I know that look. What did you do" Ingrid inquired

"I ran into an old friend of yours while I was out near Garside. He nearly shot me with a UV Gun" Everett told her.

"You must be talking about Jonathan Van Helsing. Is that why you smelled so strongly of Garlic? Did he take you to the headquarters? Did you even go to a Restaurant?"

"As a matter of fact, yes, we did. But as friends not like you're thinking" Everett stated, her tone lightly reprimanding.

"Don't get stroppy with me. I wasn't even thinking of it that way" Ingrid replied taking a sip of blood from her glass

"I think he started thinking that way at the end" Everett giggled

Ingrid did a spit take into her glass and the both of them burst into a fit of laughter.  
Renfield looked over to them from where he stood cleaning the bar. He rolled his eyes muttering something that sounded like _'Women' _under his breath.

Everett looked over to where he stood, then leaned forward and indicated for Ingrid to do the same.

Everett spoke in hushed tones from then on.

"He did take me back to the Slayer Headquarters. Mina almost killed me when I said I was staying here. I told them a bit about my dad first and then they seemed to like the idea. I know you like causing trouble; you want to know a secret?"

Ingrid leaned further forward in interest; her eyes gave away her eagerness.

"They gave me a bug. They're eager to keep tabs on you guys. Don't say too much in the Throne Room"

Ingrid stared at her, mouth agape, but the corners of her mouth twitched upward "You cheeky devil. I like the way you work. You placed it when we were in there earlier"

Everett said nothing, but finished the rest of her drink.

There was silence again for a few minutes before;

"You still haven't answered my question about you and Daniel"

* * *

Vlad still couldn't believe what had happened that night. He couldn't understand what had provoked Everett to stand up on the counter top and move the way she did.

Hands in the air, hips keeping the beat, shoulders moving back to guide her body to roll with them...he shook those thoughts from his head. Maybe if he didn't think about the events of the night he wouldn't feel so stupid about it.

He sat down in his room, a heavy book on the desk in front of him and a notepad and pen next to it. He opened to a page and began to read, occasionally making a note.

He found himself reading the same line over and over again, at least several times and he'd written it twice already. He was half way through writing it a third time before he noticed.  
He stopped, sighed and threw the pen down, leaning back into the chair and running his hands over his face in exasperation, let his head fall back gently.

His mind drifted back to Everett. Back to how she threw her head back when she drank a shot, how it exposed her neck. He remembered hearing her blood rush through her veins and how her cheeks tinted pink when she'd danced too much, her jugular throbbing against her skin...

He felt his fangs drop at the thought of her blood and felt a tingling sensation run through every nerve and fibre of his body at the thought of her skin on his lips...

He felt like slapping himself.

He really needed to concentrate on something else.

* * *

The Count sat sideways in his throne, wondering.

Wondering...

Wondering when breathers learned to party like a Vamp.

Wondering how they managed to take hold of their alcohol.

Wondering when he'd gotten so old.

Wondering...

Wondering when he started caring about girl's feelings and not making them do things that girls are **supposed** to do! If his recent actions toward Ingrid and Everett were any indication.

He wondered what it was about the girl, Everett that changed his demeanour so. He would never have treated her that way if she was anyone else.

He wondered why she seemed so familiar...

* * *

_(Ten Years Ago)_

_Samuel Ainsley sat in his home waiting anxiously for that wonderful knock on his door...or at least the sound of a key turning in the lock._

_He couldn't take the waiting and he moved to the kitchen to grab a beer from the fridge.  
But the can sat on the counter, remaining unopened as he paced about the room._

_It vaguely passed through his mind that he would wear down the tiles that lay beneath his shoes, but his apprehensiveness negated his humour._

_He heard the lock fumble and the door open quickly, banging against the wall._

_There was rushed shuffling and hushed words._

_He speed walked back into the previous room and saw his wife slam the door shut. She pulled a small figure to her side._

_"Alina? What's wrong?" _

_Alina turned to her husband and moved to him, falling into his arms. The small figure being wedged between them protectively._

_"I think we we're followed. I think they know" she told him, eyes wide with fear._

_"Don't panic. I'll pack a bag. You grab the extra money from the freezer and the car keys"_

_He bolted up the stair as Alina sat her daughter down on the couch._

_"Stay in here, don't go outside, don't open the door to anyone. I'll just be in the next room"_

_The girl nodded and watched her mother run into the kitchen._

* * *

"Daniel's right. You have regrowth coming through"

Ingrid and Everett were making their way downstairs to the school before McCauley came looking for them.

"I know a late night hairdresser in town that'll be able to get rid of it easy"

"Not meaning to be rude, but, I'm a breather, I can go out in the day. I have to get some other clothes anyway, I can't keep taking yours. I'll make an appointment Saturday at the hairdresser in town and do a bout of shopping while I'm there"

"Suit yourself" Ingrid shrugged

"Ahh, young women discussing fashion and hair...typical" The Count sneered from a doorway

"Would you like to join us?" Everett asked him as she followed Ingrid down the stairs. She heard him growl and stomp off down the hall.

"I don't think he's used to twice the sass" Everett stated to Ingrid.


	10. Chapter 10

Alex McCauley wandered through the halls of her school on the lookout for one student in particular, Everett Ainsley.

She'd seen Vlad further down the hall before and asked if he'd seen her. He, rather moodily, told her no.

Next she saw Ingrid who told her she had been outside last she saw her, but had lost track of her since then.

The bell rung and the students around her filed into their appropriate classrooms.

She walked down a hall, passing a few empty rooms and then she heard it. The distinctive sound of a Violin being played quickly and expertly. She moved slowly toward a door and listened. It was a song unfamiliar to her, but it would've been difficult for any of the students in band. This was someone who had played for, at least, a decade or more.

She opened the door quietly and entered the room. She instantly recognised Everett's shocking red hair.  
She closed the door behind her gently and turned back just as the song finished. She applauded politely, catching Everett's attention.

"Miss Ainsley, that was absolutely incredible. I've never heard one of my students play like that before. how long have you played?"

"My mother played, she started teaching me when I was four. I've been playing ever since. I suppose it helps me to fell closer to her" Everett told her

Miss McCauley could understand the sentimentality, but it was school time and not appropriate whilst lessons were in session. Then she had a brilliant idea. She wouldn't act on it now; she would leave it to work on the details at a later date.

"Are you supposed to be in class now? The bell rung a few minutes ago"

"No, I have a free period now"

"well, I was actually wanting to talk with you Everett. Could you please follow me back to my office?"

"Sure"

Everett returned the Violin from where she'd gotten it and followed Miss McCauley through the halls back to the main hall and McCauley's office.

She bid Everett to sit and took a seat behind the desk facing the younger woman.

"Everett, I wanted to talk to you about your grades. Are you sure you've never been to school before?" McCauley asked her

Everett nodded, but remained quiet

"Because your academic ability is superb. I can't remember the last time I've had a student who scored in the ninety-five to one hundred percentage in every subject. I know you've only been here for two weeks but already you're showing me that you don't need to be. If anything you should be in a high ranking College studying to be a...a Neuro Biologist for example!"

McCauley calmed herself as she could feel herself getting too over excited. And Everett was looking a little terrified.

"But, after finding you playing Violin during school hours, even though it was during your free period. It could be classified as a disruption for others in class. And there could be complaints from other teachers. So I'm going to make a deal with you. From now on, during your free periods, you are going to tutor the other students that need it and I'm going to act like you've done nothing wrong"

_'Sounds fair' _Everett thought

"At the same time, I'm going to inform Mister Count about our new arrangements. Now go enjoy your free period"

* * *

"Genius level! That's what she said! This breather is changing the ideals of women left right and centre! Is it wrong of me to say I'm impressed?"

The Count was rushing around the Throne Room later that night holding the documents that McCauley had previously had.

Everett was seated with Ingrid at the table; neither of them had said a word since they'd entered, watching everything that was going on around them with a grin.

Vlad was also watching his father pace the room, a bored expression across his face "Dad, it's nothing to be concerned with. So what if she's smart, there's a lot of breather girls that are!"

_'I'm more concerned with how cosy her and Ingrid are getting' _he thought as his eyes fell on them suspiciously

"I'm not so concerned about her being smart" he sighed and threw the documents down on a surface then leaned toward his son "I'm concerned because Miss McCauley has informed me that Everett will now be tutoring other students, and your name popped up in conversation" he said lowly. There was a low rumble of thunder at the end of his words.

Vlad's face changed into one of wide eyed embarrassment and he looked away from his father quickly "Well it doesn't matter! Next year I'll be eighteen and have too many other important things to be worrying about"

"But right now you're here-" Ingrid said

"-And right now you need to worry about your grades" Everett finished

It disturbed him to think that Ingrid and Everett could be on the same wave length. He slowly looked back over to his father.

"Quite" The Count agreed. The Count then made his flamboyant exit.

"I feel sorry for you" Ingrid piped.

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?!" Vlad snapped

Ingrid stood to make her exit, but stopped in front of her brother before doing so "I wasn't talking to you" you hissed and then zoomed off to elsewhere in the vicinity.

Vlad and Everett stared each other down.

Finally, Everett stood and made her way to the door. Stopping when her hand touched the knob "I'll see you in my room in ten minutes. Bring your homework"

She left.

Vlad gave a groan of frustration. He had the blood bank to look after and he had to work on his plan for co-existence, he didn't have time for this!  
It wasn't that he didn't want to be alone with Everett or didn't want to improve his academic record. He did want to be alone with Everett and that un-nerved him.

He didn't want another Erin on his hands.

He threw a fire ball to vent his anger and scorched his father's Throne. He cringed at his stupidity but he could deal with the consequences later and made his way to his room to pick up his homework.

* * *

Vlad and Everett had now been working for an hour now and were only beginning on his second subject.

Everett was frustrated. He wasn't concentrating and he was asking stupid questions that were grating on her nerves. She would never make a good teacher, she was too impatient. He obviously had other things on his mind and she could only wonder what they were.

She wore glasses. Square-ish, black framed glasses that made her look hipsteresque, even though she wasn't a hipster of any sort. She wore an old pair of Ingrid's pants and heels along with an old shirt that read 'Live' across the front.  
He couldn't help but think it looked good and it made him wonder why.

He couldn't take his eyes off her.

She removed her glasses and rubbed at her eyes.

"Is there any reason why you're not getting this?"

She looked up at him and caught him staring. Vlad started and looked around her room, determined not to meet her eye. He hadn't even noticed that she'd been collecting objects to spice up the room.  
An old mirror, a desk and chair, even a wardrobe, probably full of Ingrid's old clothes. It hadn't even occurred to him that he was sitting on an old couch.

"Hang on, where did all this stuff come from?" he asked her

"Don't you dare change the subject young man! What is so interesting that it tears you away from my teachings?!"

He could only shake his head and utter a small sorry.

She sighed and moved over to sit next to him, replacing her glasses on her nose and starting to explain it all again for a fifth time.  
As she did, she removed her heels and threw them into a corner then picked up a pencil and pushed it behind her ear.

He thought it was cute.

Then he did something so unintentional and unconventional, he didn't even realise that he'd done it.

She was so focused on the pages in front of her that she didn't know he was coming until she felt a hand push some hair away from her face and a soft pressure on her cheek.

* * *

Everett made an entrance to the blood bank and went straight to the counter.

Some of the Vamps, old and new to her, gave her a wave or said hi and she only returned the gesture out of politeness.

She finally reached the bar and gained the attention of Daniel, who had all but taken up the job as bartender with Ingrid and Renfield. She slammed her hands down on the counter top.

"Please tell me you have some alcohol behind there?"

He moved a little down the bar and pulled a bottle and shot glass into view. He poured it and moved to put the bottle back but was stopped by Everett grabbing his wrist.

"Leave it"

"This must be some problem to leave a bottle of Vodka"

"What happened with Vlad?" Ingrid appeared next to him

She held up a finger, telling them to wait while she downed two shots before she said anything

"He kissed me"

She jumped up to sit crossed legged on the bar and poured herself another shot. Ingrid slammed another shot glass down in front of her

"Make it two"


	11. Chapter 11

**I must apologise for being off line for six days now. The internet decided it didn't want to work for me.**  
** so to make up for it, here are last Sunday and Mondays missed chapters.**

**In reference to the bad spelling, it's meant to be that way. I'm not that bad a speller**  
** How you see it written is how you can imagine it being spoken.**

**Enjoy**

**RomanTinkerBell**

* * *

The music blared but Ingrid and Everett weren't dancing or singing tonight.

Their speech was slurred and their eyes glazed but that didn't seem to bother them.

"So ahm sittin' there...mindin' mah onne byzinesz, tryn' to lern him sum matmatics...wen, nexsing I no, hees tuchin' mayh hare and kisssing muh cheek!"

"Ugh! At's disgusting!"

Ingrid was seated with Everett on the bar. Both bare footed and Ingrid was wearing Everett's glasses

"So wahht didchyou doo?" Ingrid slurred

"Nuthin'. I jus leggd iee ouwaair an' kem dowwn heear"

"Vlad mus need ta geh laiyed"

They both giggled at that.

Everett swayed slightly as she poured herself another drink. They'd finished the Vodka, had moved to the scotch and finished that too and were now enjoying French 1965 Bordeaux that Daniel had rustled up from somewhere for the more sophisticated Vamps.

It was at that time that Vlad decided to appear. He made his way through the throng of dancing Vamps over to the bar, giving Daniel a scrutinizing look when he saw the two drunk females

"Hey, I only gave them the Vodka. Anything else they had, they got on their own" Daniel told him, holding his hands up in surrender.

Vlad scoffed. But if that was the case, he couldn't place blame on the other male.

He made his way to the two girls. He took the glass from Everett's hand and gave it to Ingrid. She took a sip from it after taking a gulp from her own glass.

"I think you've had enough Everett" Vlad said as she whined pitifully.

"No! No ahm finne!" she leaned a little too far to her right and fell of the bar to his feet, knocking herself unconscious on the stone tiles below.

He scoffed again, sighed and rolled his eyes. He picked her up off the floor, looping one arm under hers and around her back and his other arm around the back of her knees. He then proceeded to carry her from the room.

* * *

She wasn't unconscious for long and by the time he got back to her room she was squirming and begging to be let down. He dropped her unceremoniously on her couch, but she quickly stood again, swaying slightly.

"It's all your fault!" she screamed at him

"And how exactly is it my fault" Vlad replied calmly

"You're the one who kissed me!"

"This is all because I kissed you? It was an innocent peck on the cheek, it was nothing!"

"Ingrid was right! You need to get laid!"

"Why not say it louder?! I don't think they heard you down stairs!" he shouted disgustedly.

Everett cupped her hands around her mouth

"YOU NEED TO GET LAID!"

Vlad hissed at her in anger and was surprised when she didn't even flinch

"Why do you always have to bite back?!" he yelled

"Why are you always so stressed and angry all the time?!" she countered

"Because I have work I have to do, and having you become buddies with Ingrid only makes me suspicious because she's fought me the entire way so far!"

She didn't fight back this time, she didn't even say anything. She just looked at him, head tilted to one side, looking as cute as ever. The vessels in her neck throbbed appetisingly. Vlad could hear the whispers of his inner demons telling him to bite.

"Maybe I can help you to de-stress" She said as she made her way over to him.

He watched her with curiousness and uncertainty and jumped when she looped her arms around his neck. He pulled them off him quickly.

"Everett, no. You're drunk"

"If you remember correctly, you're the one who kissed me and made me want to get drunk"

He looked at her, mouth gaping like a fish. She was never gonna let him live that down.

She moved her arms around his neck again and pulled him in to meet her. She let one of her hands settle in the crook of his neck and allowed the other to tangle into his hair.

At first he was reluctant to let things move forward, but he found himself wrapping an arm around her waist and letting the other slide up her body and back to the back of her neck.

Letting his lips mingle with hers gently.

**_"You know what you want"_**

The voice was small and lingered in the back of his brain but he was too wrapped up in the moment to realise it was there.

**_"Take her. Make her yours. Bite her"_**

Both his arms wrapped around her, pulling her closer to the danger zone while her hands ran through his hair. Their kiss intensifying in fervour.

He clung to her, desperately trying not to lose control.

She broke the kiss, breathing hard, and wrapped her arms around him to hold him close, laying her head on his shoulder and placing the occasional gentle kiss on his neck that sent pleasurable shivers down his spine.

He too held her close, but was fighting an internal battle. He was glad when she pulled away from the kiss. He was glad it had all stopped. He was glad she didn't pull away from him.  
She would have to at some point but for now he was happy to hold her close, letting his face fall into her hair and breath in her scent

"Maybe next time we'll let this go further" she commented

_'Maybe'_

**_"Definitely"_**

He could feel his reflection grinning evilly.

Their eyes made contact, and they both leaned into one another, their lips intertwining their destinies as they fell, together, onto the couch behind them and into a night of bliss.

* * *

Ingrid refused to awake the next morning.

She complained loudly as she moved to sit up, her head weighing a ton and feeling like it was being hit repeatedly with a brick.

"I shouldn't have had so much to drink last night"

She hadn't even gone back to her room. She was still in the blood bank, sprawled across the bar.

She opened her eyes and wondered why her vision was weird; she reached to rub her eyes and felt glass and plastic under her fist. She groggily removed the glasses from her face and stared at them in confusion, falling back to lay on the bar again "Whose are these? Ugh" she let her arm fall back to place them above her head.

She rolled to her side and sat up, letting her bare feet hang centimetres from the ground.

"They're Everett's"

She winced at the voice. It was too early to start a conversation...especially with such a loud voice.

"They must've fallen over your eyes while you slept" Daniel continued

Ingrid vaguely remembered asking to try them on, but the rest of the night was a blur.

"What are you still doing here? I thought you would've left before the sun came up"

"I took it upon myself to stick around, to make sure you woke up. You had enough alcohol to floor an Elephant." Daniel answered her. Standing and moving to sit next to her on the bar.

"But don't worry, I have the perfect cure. And its Everett approved"

He leaned back to reach behind the bar and pulled up a half empty bottle of bourbon. The last thing Ingrid had been drinking before she passed out.

"More alcohol?" she questioned

He raised his brows and nodded, then took a swig from the bottle and handed it to her

"As Everett says 'the sure fire way to cure a hangover, is to never stop drinking'"

She looked at him cynically

"I'm not drinking from that now" she said

"C'mon. Don't be a princess" he stated

It took her a few minutes to give in and take the bottle from him.


	12. Chapter 12

The Count lay in his coffin with his spin dial phone next to him, the receiver to his ear as he, as patiently as he could, waited for his brother to pick up at the other end.

The dial tone run twice more before someone picked up.

"Hello?!" a morose voice yelled down the line

The Count almost dropped the receiver but quickly regained his composure.

"Yes, hello! Olga, is that you? It's your Uncle. I was hoping your father was available to speak"

There was silence at the other end, and he began to think that the line had dropped out.

"Brother? How are you? I thought we were leaving it another two hundred years? You miss me already?"

The Count rolled his eyes but continued with his train of thought.

"Actually I don't miss you at all and I'm quite happy to see you in another three hundred years. But Ivan, this isn't a social call. I have a very intriguing predicament and I feel you may be able to help me. That is, if you're happy to answer my questions?"

"Of course Big Brother. It's not every day "The Great Count Dracula" asks for help" came the mocking reply

The Count closed his eyes and counted to ten before asking his brother anything.

"You remember that beautiful young thing you dated for a brief time when you were fifteen? When we visited Finland that year. She was the same age as you, from an Italian heritage and her parents were friends with ours"

"Alina Calvetti. Yes I remember her well" Ivan purred down through the receiver

"Alina Calvetti! Yes! Do you happen to have a recent picture of her?"

"What exactly is going on Brother?"

The Count picked at some threads as he explained his reason for the call.

"I have this...girl, in my care and I can't help but think I know her from somewhere. I know for a fact that this is my first time ever meeting her, so the only logical explanation is that she looks like someone else"

"And you think she could look like Alina Calvetti?" His brother asked

"It's a possibility" The Count replied

There was silence on the other end before Ivan whispered down the line

"I have a small portrait of her, but it's not recent. I'll send it to you all the same"

"Thank you Ivan"

"Until next we meet, Big Brother"

"Quite"

The Count hung up the receiver "Let's hope it's not too soon"

* * *

Vlad awoke alone. Arm dangling off the front of the couch and Everett's long coat the only thing that covered his dignity.  
The owner of said coat was nowhere to be seen. Although he was sure she'd been in his arms when he fell asleep.

It was an odd sensation to be awake during day time hours and brought back joyous memories of Stokely, that also made his stomach churn in pain.

He stood and located his clothes. If he was found in here by anyone who wasn't the girl he slept with things would turn very bad, very quickly. He found all except his jacket.

He figured if Everett's coat was here, then she must have his.

He made his way to the door and listened before he stepped out into the hall. Everything was clear, but as he shut the door Ingrid was noiselessly making her way up the stairs and caught him.

She pointed to Everett's door with one of her shoes.

"What were you doing? Were you just in Everett's room?!"

He had to think fast

"I was looking for her. I let her use my jacket as a blanket last night and I came to retrieve it. But neither are there"

"Well I doubt she'd be wearing it. She has better fashion sense. Besides, who would want to smell like you?" she sneered as she sauntered by him.

"Do you know where she is?"

"It's Saturday. She made an appointment in town" Ingrid answered him.

He let out an exasperated groan and zoomed off as she moved further down the hall to her room.

* * *

The Count was anxiously wearing down the wood floor in the main hall, waiting for his package to arrive when she entered the building. She thought it was odd how he was up and about during the day. But she didn't care.  
She made her way past him to the stairs throwing a friendly 'Hi Count' over her shoulder

"Hello"

It took him a few seconds before something clicked and he turned to the young woman with her back to him, climbing the stairs.

"Alina?!"

Everett turned to face him and he jumped slightly. He didn't need the picture anymore, but he still wanted to be sure.

Everett turned to him shocked, but didn't let it show.

If he figured out her identity, she would be dead in less than a week. So she played innocent.

"I'm sorry Count?"

"Everett! Everett, I'm sorry. I mistook you for someone else"

It was an easy mistake to make, even more so considering she hadn't re-dyed her hair red. Instead it was a natural colour that matched her roots. A light, chestnut brown.

"It's a pretty name though. Alina" Everett stated

"Yes." He agreed

"Was she a friend?"

"She was a friend of the family. I haven't seen her in decades. Actually, I'm waiting to receive a picture of her, my brother's sending it. Maybe you'd like to have a look at it when it gets here"

He smiled awkwardly at her

She shrugged "Maybe"

He noticed the bags in her hand

"Ah, you've been shopping. Did you enjoy yourself?"

She looked at him confused

"You're making me nervous" she told him honestly

He stared and looked away "I apologise"

She started up the stairs again throwing a comment over her shoulder

"I'm surprised you didn't notice I was wearing Vlad's jacket"

She disappeared upstairs as The Count began to pace again

"I did" he muttered

* * *

_(Nineteen Years Ago)_

_Alina sat in her old room, in her old home, in her old country._

_It was winter and the snow fell through the open window, dusting the floor with a soft white covering. _

**_'How pale will you be when you arrive, dear angel?'_**

_She sat in a high backed chair, turned side on, opposite the window._

_She shivered and pulled the blanket around her closer. She sneezed. _

_From what she knew of breather ailments, sneezing, coughing and fever were often signs of a cold or flu. She'd helped her husband through one months earlier. _

_She'd gone into a pharmacy in town earlier that night and picked up some medication. It may just be because of the pregnancy that she was having these reactions...at least that's what her mother put it down to.  
Alina was sure it was because she'd gotten caught in a torrential down pour last month and her body was still trying to recuperate._

_Her father waltzed into the room, looking at her disapprovingly. _

_"Alina. Do not leave the window open. You are making a mess" He moved further in toward the window and shut it with a snap._

* * *

Everett dumped her bags in her room and then made her way down the hall to Ingrid's door, another bag tapping against her knee as she walked. She knocked loudly on the door and heard the thump of something being thrown against the back other side of it.

"Knock knock. I don't mean to disturb you...well I do" she said through the door, leaning against the door frame

It was quiet on the other side, until the lock clicked open and Ingrid appeared in the gap.

She was certainly a sight.

Her usually perfect hair was dishevelled and matted and her eyes were slightly bloodshot with bags and smudged makeup underneath them, making it look like she hadn't slept for days.

_'When in fact she would've had the deepest slumber of her unlife'_

"Whoa..."

"What?" Ingrid asked her quietly.

Everett held up the bag she'd brought with her "I bought you a little something while I was out, just to say thanks for everything"

Ingrid took the bag from her and let the door fall open. Everett followed her in and shut it.

"I hope you like it. It's simple, nothing fancy. If you don't like it you can give it to me...I'll wear it"

Ingrid pulled the simple dress out of the bag with a fluent swish, holding it at arm's length to examine it.  
It was a simple little black dress.  
Knee length, flared, high necked with no sleeve and was cut out in the back and front around the shoulder blades and décolletage

Ingrid stared at it wide eyed, a look of happy shock across her face. "I love it. You're right it's simple but, it's still so...me!"

_'For lack of a better word'_

Ingrid draped the dress across her coffin and pulled Everett into a one armed hug.

"Care to tell me how you're not hung over?"

"Didn't Daniel tell you my secrets?" Everett poked teasingly as she gently tried to tame Ingrid's hair.

Ingrid looked down at the jacket Everett was wearing and gently pulled the others hands away.

"Why are you wearing Vlad's jacket?"

Everett looked down at herself "Oh. It's really warm outside today and my jacket's too heavy. So I stole it"

"You stole it?"

"Well it sounds better than borrowed"

Ingrid gave a small laugh and smile and shook her head "Vlad's looking for it, just so you know. I think he might be on the war path by now...that seems to be his favourite jacket"

Everett returned her nod "Noted"

"Loving the hair by the way" Ingrid told her with a small smile.


	13. Chapter 13

**There is a reason why this chapter is so short, if you wait till the next chapter you'll find out why.**

**RomanTinkerBell**

* * *

Night came quickly, much to The Count's relief and a little after midnight a bat messenger arrived with his awaited package. He took it eagerly and sped to his room.

There was a letter from Ivan folded with the image, but it went unnoticed as it fluttered to the floor and was eventually kicked into hiding underneath the platform that supported The Counts extravagant coffin.

The Count stared at the picture he now held in his hands. If he'd received it days ago the obvious difference from then to now would be the colour of the hair. But now he had it in his hands he noticed the only difference was the length. Everett had short cropped hair, where as the girl in the picture had long curling waves. But other than that, they could be the same person. They were the spit of each other.

The thing was, he'd grown to like the girl he now had in his care but he needed to call her out.  
And if she hadn't said anything to them, there must have been a good reason for her not doing so.

_'This is going to prove problematic' _

* * *

Everett sat on her couch reading, her black framed glasses retrieved from Ingrid perched on her nose and Wolfie, in dog form, curled up between her legs, his head lying on her stomach. He whined and she scratched his ear comfortingly.

There was a knock on her door.

"Can I come in?" Vlad called

Without moving from the couch, or the sentence she was reading, she gave permission for him to enter.  
Vlad stood at the end of the couch in a second, the door closed behind him.

"Did you even use the door?" she asked absentmindedly, not looking up from her book.  
"Your jackets over there" she waved her hand in a general direction, still reading.

He moved to retrieve his possession and then turned to look at her "Thanks"

She expected he would leave then but he remained standing, looking at her expectantly.

"We need to talk" he told her "About last night"

Wolfie look over at him in curiosity. Everett did not.

"Last night was fun, that's all"

He stood gaping at her. When he spoke, his voice was louder than intendid "Everett! Last night we-"

"Does this look like a cat to you?!" she matched his volume as she indicated to Wolfie, finally looking up from her page. "Wolfie would you please excuse us? We obviously need to have a private conversation"  
Wolfie barked and jumped off of her and the couch and trotted casually to the door, tail wagging. Everett moved along the couch to open the door for him and shut it behind him.

Everett fell back with crossed arms and legs as she looked at Vlad accusingly, awaiting an explanation.

"Well? What was that all about?" she asked him evenly

"What was what about?!" he snapped back

"You"

"Me?! You're the one that said it was fun!"

"Well what is there to talk about?! We're not a couple 'coz we spent a night together! We're not a couple, period!"

He looked taken back by her words and a lump formed in her throat. It wasn't like she didn't want to be in a relationship with him, she couldn't. He would surly kill her when he found out the truth. Either that or he would tell someone else, who would then kill her.

"I can't afford to be in a relationship" She stated

"Why not?"

"You wouldn't understand"

"Then help me understand!"

"No!"

He set his jaw and scowled then flashed from the room, leaving Everett to her thoughts.


	14. Chapter 14

**Okay, so my translations between languages may not be exact. I failed at languages in school.  
I used Google Translate and I don't know how reliable that really is. But I've tried my best.**

**So here it is. The next chapter.**

**I felt that this chapter was too good to separate at any point in time throughout, which is why the last chapter was short.**

**I hope it gives a better insight into Everett's family history and that I've written the fight scene well.**

**As you may have noticed through the previous chapters, the story is taking a, somewhat, darker turn.**  
**There's been sex (although discreet) and alcohol and is now introducing a more violent nature, though I hope not too much so that it turns you off reading. For future, there will be drug references.**

**I don't usually write music into my stories (well I do, but I haven't for this one) but I was listening to this song and I saw the scene unfolding in my mind. So I couldn't not use the song to give something to Alina's thoughts. **

**I think it gives something to the chapter in general. **  
**So I hope you'll take the time to listen to the song and read the chapter as you listen and feel what I tried to put into the writing.**

**Happy readings.**

**RomanTinkerBell**

* * *

** Music – Heart by Heart – Demi Lovato**

* * *

_Alina walked down the Champs Elysees at a determined pace._

_The people around her were laughing and loving. Seated in restaurants and walking underneath the lamp posts were couples hand in hand speaking in fast paced vocabulary and sharing kisses.  
She silently wished at least one of the many pairings would burst into hostility, if to make her feel better about being separated from her family._

_She could feel them watching her, as she intended. It was all part of the plan. She would lead them away while he chaperoned their daughter out of the country.  
He'd given her several stakes and she'd stolen an experimental UV bomb from his bag also, but that was for only the most dire of situations, a last resort._

_She looked up momentarily and saw the Arc De Triomphe flashing through the trees ahead of her._

_She could hear them following her now._

_She ducked down an alley way that was more secluded than the main street. She made her way to the centre of the alley and stopped. She was ready._

_"I know you're there" she called_

_There was a rush of air and several Vampires appeared in front of her. There was more movement behind her. She turned her head slightly and saw, out of the corner of her eye, the few that were behind her._

_"Where is she? Your daughter?" asked one of them_

_"And what makes you think I'm gonna tell you?" she shot back casually_

_"Alright then. Where's your breather husband?" _

_"I don't care to repeat myself"_

_She had a staring contest with the one who had spoken when another, familiar voice spoke from behind her._

_"Alina. You are my only daughter. I have a pardon, signed by Morgan himself. All you have to do is tell us where the girl and the breather are" Her father told her_

_"That girl is your granddaughter! My daughter!" Alina hissed turning to him, fangs bared and eyes glowing red "What makes you think I'll tell you anything!"_

_She placed her hands in her coat pockets and felt the smooth wood of a stake in her left palm._

_"We do not want to hurt you Alina. But we will if we have to" the smooth voice of Morgan echoed from behind her and made her spin back around to meet him._

_"I'm a girl. As if I wouldn't have punishment" _

_She pulled the stake from her pocket and threw it into the heart of one of the others beside him, turning him to dust with an undramatic puff.  
The others around her hissed at her and Morgan disappeared into the air._

_"Very well" her father said "Good-bye, Alina" _

_And he too, took off into the dark sky._

_She was now left surrounded by eight Soldier Vampires employed by the High Council._

_One rushed at her but she was quick enough to pull a stake from underneath the back of her jacket and plunge it into his body. She missed his heart but pulled it from him and kicked another in the face that tried to grab her from behind.  
Another came at her from her left, aiming a punch, but she knocked it away and elbowed him in the mouth.  
She ducked underneath a high kick and spun to knock this one of his feet._

_As she stood again she pulled another stake from her right boot and moved forward quickly to plunge it into his heart.  
She rolled forward as one of his companions narrowly missed her...and her head, with the discarded stake from her first victim. It shattered on the ground from the force behind it, sending splinters flying that slashed at her face and hands._

_"She even bleeds like a breather!" one of them shouted to the others._

_She hissed, as if to prove him wrong, then flipped backwards and threw a stake, hitting her target, putting her second victim out of his painful misery. _

_She jump kicked another in the face when he got too close then spun and buried the stake she still held into his chest. He gave a gasp before he fell to pieces on the floor._

_Her previously thrown stake found its way into her shoulder blade and she staggered forward, almost tripping over her own feet. She turned to the one who'd thrown it._

_"That's the best you can do? I've dusted four of your friends. Me, a girl. And you only manage to hit me now? I have to say, I'm disappointed"_

_The Vamp in question hissed as another of his mates snuck up behind her. She stuck a stake in his heart without looking or even batting a lash._

_"Make that five" she said cockily_

_The other three came to the side of the other, all of them standing in front of her. All advancing._

_She reached behind her again and felt something spherical._

_"Stop!" _

_They froze, anticipating her next words. She pulled out the UV Bomb_

_"Come one step closer and we all turn to dust"_

_She showed them the glowing glass ball and they faulted._

_"What's that?" One of them asked_

_"This, my good Vamp, is what the Slayers call a UV Bomb. If I break the glass...well I said it before. And you know how I hate to repeat myself" she said with a grin_

_"She's bluffing" she heard one whisper_

_And they quickly surrounded her. _

_She threw down the globe, but nothing happened_

**_'Damn!'_**

_"I told you she was bluffing" she could practically hear the grin that graced his features._

_She was roughly grabbed from behind by four strong hands and brought to her knees.  
The one that seemed to be the new leader of the four moved forward and pulled her last stake from its halter._

_As he raised it above his head, she closed her eyes and regretted nothing. _

_She saw her husband, Sam, behind her eyelids he was smiling at her. His brown eyes lit with so much life that it passed to her and gave her a new heart. She remembered his kiss, his touch and his last words to her..._

_**"I love you. Be safe. Come home to me"** _

_...She'd made a promise she couldn't keep. _

_She saw her daughter, her angel. Her sapphire blue eyes a match to her own, and that shone with so much knowing. It was amazing a little girl such as her could be so much more than she was. Her little Everett could change the world. No, she would._

**_'My angel, Grow up well. Be strong and safe and beautiful'_**

_They'd just celebrated her tenth birthday._

_Alina was nearly brought to tears at the thought of never seeing her angel grow into a beautiful woman. But she regretted nothing. If she had to die to protect her family, she would._

_She would be strong to the end._

_"Not so cocky now?"_

_She opened her eyes, glaring daggers, her grin returning "A girl staked five of your friends and I regret nothing" she said, cocking her head to one side._

_He growled._

_"Alina Calvetti. Because of your fraternisation and association with Slayers, you are hear-by condemned to dust, by stake"_

_The stake came down and pierced her chest, she didn't scream or make a noise of any kind and her last look would haunt him until the end of his unlife._

_The two that had been holding her looked to their new leader._

_"What now?" one of them asked_

_"Well, we don't know where the girl or the breather are. But Morgan will be more than pleased to know that this one is dust" he answered._

_The fourth, that had been watching the proceedings, picked up the UV Bomb and examined it, noting that the glass had actually cracked._

_"To think, she thought she could scare us with this little thing" he stated, shaking it and dropping it carlessly back onto the ground._

_As to not cause suspicion the four remaining Vampires began to make their way out of the alley._

_There was noise behind them and they turned momentarily to see what it was, but could see nothing of interest._

_As soon as their backs were turned the glass sphere shattered, creating a massive explosion of light, making it seem as if night had turned to day in that alley way.  
When the light disappeared, there were six piles of dust from the previous battle and four new, steaming, additions._

* * *

_Sam sat with his daughter in the car, watching everything from a Slayer cam that He had begged his wife to wear._

_She was supposed to call if she needed the help. She was supposed to use the safe word. Angel._

_He looked to his daughter who sat beside him staring at the dashboard. _

_She'd spent nine years, with eight and a half of those years, with just her mother, now she was left with a man who barely knew her, who didn't know how to raise a child on his own._

_He felt the wet of his tears roll down his cheeks and looked ahead of him to stare at the road, slumping in his seat.  
He felt a cold little hand wipe away a tear and he returned his stare to the daughter that had his wife's eyes._

_He leaned across and kissed her head affectionately. _

_He started the engine and drove. _

_He couldn't understand how the Vampire Community could demean women and girls. They were so strong, so determined, so in control._

_Everett wasn't even crying she was just staring ahead of her but he could see the anger swelling inside her. He couldn't understand why the Vampire High Council could have so much hate toward a young girl. So much so that they would curse said little girl to gain her vampiric abilities at a tender young age, and then curse her to be more human than other Vampires._

_They had to keep running._

_It was lucky that they had cursed his daughter the way they did. She was a Vampire now, but she had the ability to walk in the sun. Although she was allergic to garlic and she could still be staked, although she wouldn't dust, she would bleed.  
She could cross running water, didn't have to be invited in. All the things that stumped Vampires, she had no worries with._

_He pulled the car over in a well lit area crowded with people and got out of the car. He grabbed their few suitcases from the boot of the car and moved around the vehicle to pull his daughter out of the passenger seat.  
He walked down the street with a firm grip on his daughters hand and hailed a taxi when they were further enough away from their previous vehicle._

_The driver, seeing that they had baggage, popped the boot and helped them to load their possessions._

__"Ou monsieur?" _The taxi driver asked when they were finally ready._

__"L'aéroport d'Orly s'il vous plait, merci" _Sam answered in perfect French._

_The engine revved as it pulled into the flow of traffic._

_The driver looked in his rear view mirror to the little girl sitting, unmoving, in the back seat next to her father._

__"__Vous êtes une jolie petite fille" __

__"__Je préférerais que vous avez garde vos yeux sur la route s'il vous plait" _she told him in fluent French_

__"Si vous nous avez la dans une heure il ya deux cents euro pour vous" _her father stated._

_The driver floored it and within forty-five minutes they were at the airport._

_Her father left the two hundred dollar tip that he'd promised and made his way to the ticket stands. It was late at night, so thankfully there was no one there and they walked straight to the counter._

_The girl behind the counter looked up at them with a toothy smile.  
_"Bonsoir, sir. __Que puis-je faire pour vous ce soir?" _  
_

__"__J'ai besoin de deux billets pour la Russie. Préférence pas cher et sur le vol plus tôt possible" __

__"__Certainement monsieur. Un instant s'il vous plait" _  
_

_There were a few moments where they waited while the girl prepared their tickets._

__"Ce sera € 320 s'il vous plait" _she told him._

_He said nothing as he gave her the money and took the tickets from her._

__"__Votre vol part dans vingt minutes. __Avoir une belle soirée" _ she called after him as he hurried away with his daughter to their gate._

* * *

**_(I couldn't get the accent above some of the letters to appear in my Document, but what I've said here is what I was meaning)_**

_"Ou monsieur?" - Where to sir? _

_"L'aéroport d'Orly s'il vous plait, merci" - Orly Airport please, thank you_

_"__Vous êtes une jolie petite fille" - You're a pretty little girl_

_"__Je préférerais que vous avez garde vos yeux sur la route s'il vous plait" - I would prefer it if you kept your eyes on the road please_

_"Si vous nous avez la dans une heure il ya deux cents euro pour vous" - If you have us there in an hour there's another two hundred euro in it for you_

_"Bonsoir, sir. __Que puis-je faire pour vous ce soir?" - Good evening, sir. What can I do for you tonight?_

_"__J'ai besoin de deux billets pour la Russie. Préférence pas cher et sur le vol plus tôt possible" - I need two tickets to Russia. Preferably cheep and on the soonest flight possible_

_"__Certainement monsieur. Un instant s'il vous plait" - Certainly sir. One moment please_

_"Ce sera € 320 s'il vous plait" - That will be three hundred and twenty euro please_

_"__Votre vol part dans vingt minutes. __Avoir une belle soirée" - Your flight leaves in twenty minutes. have a nice evening._


	15. Chapter 15

Everett entered Vlads room after knocking, saying that it was her.  
She knew he was in there, She'd seen him go in only seconds before.

He wasn't anywhere in sight, but his coffin lid was closed.

She moved to the head of the coffin and pulled it open to reveal him lying there with his eyes closed.

"I believe I closed that for a reason" he stated

"It's night. You're a Vampire. I believe, you're supposed to be up and about" she pointed out

"Is there a reason why you're in here uninvited?"

"I wanted to talk"

"Well I don't" he finished

Everett scoffed and slammed her fist against the wall "Hyva Jumala! Olet idiootti Vlad!"

His eyes snapped open in shock. The only thing he'd been able to understand in that sentence had been his name. His shock didn't last long.

"Please try not to break my wall"

"Paskapaa" she spoke, shaking her head.

He remained lying in his coffin, looking up at her as she sat down by his head. She played with his fringe absentmindedly, and he let her.

He sighed through his nose "What did you want to talk about?"

"The other night...I said that our interaction was fun-"

"Don't remind me" he said unreceptively

"-and I said that we're not a couple" she continued on, ignoring his input

"Where exactly are you going with this?" he asked her annoyed

"Well, we're not a couple, but that doesn't mean we can't have fun" she stated

He looked at her confused "What?"

She said it again slowly "I didn't say, that we couldn't have fun together"

His pale cheeks seemed to flush with colour and he stuttered and gapped through his next sentence  
"Are you saying what I think you're saying?!"

She grinned down at him with a cheeky smile "What? You not interested now?"

"No! No! I'm uhh...I...err...I...I, I'm just...-"

She cut him off with a kiss, which he melted into. She pulled back and started playing with his hair again.

"We can't become a couple at any time. But it's not because I don't want to be"

He looked at her confused and concerned "Are you in some sort of trouble?" he asked her quietly

She adjusted herself so she could sit and lay her head next to his "Nothing you can help with" she told him honestly "Please don't ask"

He looked at her silently, but complied and settled for just looking at her beautiful face.

Neither of them feeling the blue eyes that watched them carefully.

* * *

Ingrid swore she was never going to drink again. Not after yesterday morning.

It was embarrassing enough that she'd made herself vulnerable, but waking with Everett's friend watching over her...it made her blush. Not because she liked him, she didn't like him in the least. She only put up with him because he was Everett's friend and because he helped out in the blood bank.

No, that was it. No more drinking, no more alcohol of any kind. From now on, she was on zero point zero, zero a night...starting tomorrow night...or maybe the night after.

As she made her way down to the blood bank, she could hear the music thumping loudly. She was surprised there had been no noise complaints made to the school for the month the blood bank had been running. Well it wasn't a blood bank now. It was officially an unofficial Vamps only Night Club, which Everett had become owner of.

Daniel had already taken the liberty of opening up and there were already at least thirty seven Street Rat Vamps drinking and dancing and there were probably more on their way.

Things had certainly changed around here since Everett had arrived. Never in a thousand years would Ingrid have thought she would be living over a Night Club. Let alone, that she would be attending and classified as staff. If anything, she thought she would be in charge of it, not under management of a breather.

It made her furious. And guilty.

She actually did consider Everett a friend. But she had to be careful. All of her friends ended up dead, if Will was any indication. Although he had been her only friend and boyfriend, until he was dusted.

Maybe it was a good thing she had another friend, one that was female this time. One that didn't feel threatened by her and didn't make her feel threatened in return.  
Someone she could confide in about things they would understand.

_'Would it be a bad thing to ask her to be my sister?'_

She pushed the door open and made her way to the bar where Daniel was cleaning a few glasses and taking orders. He looked to be dodging around something hidden behind the bar.

She came around behind the bar and saw Wolfie, in his human form, seated on the ground with his large stuffed dog in his lap.

"Ingrid! Fantastic! Could you get him outta here please?" Daniel begged as he dodged away past Wolfie again to the other end of the bar.

Ingrid zipped forward, picked up Wolfie and zipped back out the main door.

"Wolfie you know you're not allowed down here" she reprimanded quietly "What do you think you were doing? Get back upstairs"

"But I don't wanna be upstairs! There's strange noises upstairs" he told her

"What d'you mean 'strange noises'?"

He shrugged and Ingrid let her eyes wander up to stare at the ceiling.

"Go play elsewhere. Don't get into trouble"

She zipped upstairs and stood in the hall way where the bedrooms were situated. There were no noises that she could hear, so she went to investigate elsewhere.

She met her father in the Throne Room.

"Have you been doing anything loud up here?"

The Count shook his head

"Have you heard any strange noises?"

He shook his head again and Ingrid rolled her eyes at his perceptiveness.

* * *

Vlad rolled his arms around Everett's naked frame as she lay above him, a blanket draped over her lower half to try and keep her a little warm.

He lightly traced the tattoo on her shoulder.

"So what does it stand for? I know you've said you're not a Slayer, but it can give the wrong impression"

She stared down at his fingers and gently placed a chaste kiss upon them

"It's a long gone identification of Slayer families. They don't do it now because it made it easier for the Vamps to identify them. It was protection against other Slayers at the time, to prevent them from killing their own" she explained

"Why would they kill their own?"

It was a valid question

"They stopped using it about two hundred years ago, when they started coming up with other newer weapons and were becoming more informed and rational. Vampires were becoming easier to identify and there was no need for it to be continued"

She let her head fall onto his bare chest and half wished she could hear a heartbeat to know if she had an effect on him.

"So what does it mean?"

She smiled and hummed affectionately in his ear, feeling more at home than she had in years.

"'Seima'. It's Lithuanian for 'Family'. The roots of all Slayers origins" she told him.

He smiled faintly and kissed her nose. He didn't notice the faraway look in her eye.

It was then she heard the music from downstairs.

"I have to get to work. Daniel won't be to please if he's left on his own" she told him quietly

"Stay" he complained "We can go for round two" his cocky grin and cheeky tone made her giggle.

"I would love to, but I can't"

She stood, wrapping the blanket around her frame and began searching for her clothes. He lay there in all his glory as he watched her wander around his room.  
She found her shirt, jeans and underwear but she couldn't find her bra.  
But she didn't have time to make a full investigation.

She dressed quickly and stood by the door

"If you find my bra...you can keep it. By the way, this is our little secret"

She placed a finger to her lips and winked, exited and made her way down to the club.

* * *

**_(I couldn't get the accent above some of the letters to appear in my Document, but what I've said here is what I was meaning)_**

_"Hyva Jumala! Olet idiootti Vlad!" - Dear God! You're an idiot Vlad! _

_"Paskapaa" - Shit head_


	16. Chapter 16

_(Eighteen Years and Eight Months Ago)_

_"__...Sa che la mamma e ancora vicino tutta la notte oscura.  
Avere un assaggio di stella scintillante e bere un sorso di luna.  
E quando senti che te ne sei andanto lontano poi salpare per la vostra stanza."_

_Alina finished singing to her baby, who was cuddled up in a coffin shaped bassinette, draped in black and royal purple coloured lace. _

_Her father had not been happy when the baby was born as he'd wanted a grandson, but was instead cursed with a granddaughter._

_He stood against the wall outside Alina's room. _

_He remembered when the baby had been born, hearing it's cries ringing through the manor walls and the feeling of elation at the thought of an heir. His dead heart soaring more when he heard that she'd named it after its grandfather. Although at the time he didn't realise that she meant her husband's father._

_He'd flow into the room with arms out wide. _

_He remembered the conversation;_

**_"I am honoured that you would name your son after me, my beautiful daughter"_**

**_"Uhh...sorry dad. I named her after her other grandfather"_**

**_"_****_Her_****_Other_****_ grandfather?! So I am not good enough that you would consider name it after me, but you give me a _****_Granddaughter_****_ instead of an heir?! Get rid of it"_**

**_"I'll _****_get rid_****_ of _****_you_****_! And _****_its_****_ name is _****_Everett_****_!"_**

**_..._**

_Alina knew he was there. He was hard to miss with that aura of his, with that raging anger and voracious greed._

_She hoped that her own empathic abilities would pass onto her daughter, rather than her looks. Her daughter could be beautiful, but she needed to be hidden. She needed to survive more than anyone else Alina knew._

* * *

The Count sat in his Throne in deep contemplation.

He still hadn't decided what he wanted to do about the Everett - Alina Dilemma...as he had deemed it.

Ingrid entered the room looking around confusedly when she turned around and saw him sitting there. He barley heard her questions toward him...something about noises and something loud. She left almost as quick as she came.

He pulled the picture out of a pocket and examined it again. What had happened to this Vampire Woman he hadn't seen in centuries? And why did this girl look like her? it couldn't be the same person there were no possibilities, no 'ifs' or 'buts', they were **absolutely** **not** the same person.

He couldn't talk to the girl. She wouldn't tell him anything.

_'Although she seemed to dance with the subject the other night...'_

Renfield entered with a bottle of blood and a glass on a tray placing it on the long table in the room.

The Count let his hand drop and begrudgingly moved to stand by his dogsbody, placing the picture down on the table exasperatedly as said dogsbody poured the crimson liquid for his Master.

Renfield noticed the picture

"Oh! Miss Everett certainly cleans up well. In the Vampiric sense"

"She would if it was her" The Count said absentmindedly

"What do you mean?" Renfield asked him

The Count picked up the picture again and gave Renfield a proper look at it. Renfield squinted as he examined it, thinking that he really needed to invest in some seeing glasses.

"This is Alina Julietta Rozalia Calvetti. She is the daughter of The Count Dante Enzo Giovonni Valentino Calvetti and Countess Fausta Abriana Francesca Calvetti. And an old friend of the family" The Count stated grandly

"Well, why does she look so much like Miss Everett?" Renfield questioned

"Well, I..." the words died in The Counts mouth until he finally revived them "I honestly don't know"

He moved back to his throne, drink in hand.

"I've been pondering over it for three days now and I just can't work it out!"

"Maybe their related somehow?" Renfield said out of the blue after thinking for a few moments

"It's an extremely young picture of her, but you can clearly see that Calvetti is a Vampire" Said The Count with an annoyed eye roll "She's hundreds of years old! How could they possibly be related?!"

"Maybe a very distant cousin?" Renfield tried

The Count rolled his eyes again and gave a groan.

It was then that Vlad entered. He was a little worse for wear, meaning he looked ruffled, but he had an unmistakable bounce in his step.

He made his way over to the fire place and picked up a large book off the small table.

"You seem chipper. What's up?" his father asked him

"Nothing. Just having a good night" Vlad noticed the awkwardness that filled the room "Everything alright? You look a little more...for lack of a better word, miffed"

The Count made a noise of agreement and pointed to the table and Renfield. The dogsbody pick something up off the long table and handed it out to Vlad. Vlad approached Renfield, taking the item in question and examined it with socked wide eyes.

"Why do you have a picture of Everett?" he asked defensively

The Count set an inquisitive calculating on his son before he began explaining anything.

* * *

Everett didn't go down to the club to work like she told Vlad she was. She dropped in to ask Ingrid to do the paperwork and then made her way off the grounds, sending a text to Jonno

**_Meet you at the Pizzeria. Bring the wine  
Ev_**

Ten minutes later she was at the pizzeria but had to wait another fifteen for Jonno to turn up.

"Hey!"

"Hey! I brought the wine" he joked holding up a bottle soft drink "It was the best I could do on short notice"

Everett shrugged, indifferent.

"Was there a reason for this meeting?" he asked her

"I was bored, and inquisitive. You get anything good from the Throne Room bug?"

"We're recording as we speak. But nothing too interesting, other than the Blood Bank reopening" he told her.

_'Well it's a Night Club now. I don't think they'd like the idea of that too much'_

* * *

Vlad made his way down to the Club, intent on speaking to Everett about what his father had just told him.

He threw open the door and made his way to the bar.

The first person he saw was Daniel, who was in the process of making ten drinks at a time. Something he was obviously good at.  
Ingrid was at the corner of the bar fixing paperwork and chewing on pretzel sticks.

"Where's Everett?" Vlad asked Daniel

"She's not here" the blonde Vamp stated hurriedly.

"What do you mean she's not here?" Vlad questioned

"She's not here little brother. She rostered a night off, left me in charge of the paperwork" Ingrid told him without looking up from what she was doing.

Vlad looked at her confused as she jotted something down on the page she was working on

"She told me she would be here! She told me she was working tonight!"

"Well she lied to you Vlad. I would think you'd be used to that from girls" She stated snidely.

Vlad growled and hissed at her. She was shocked by his reaction, but she had hit close to home on purpose.

Vlad zoomed up in front of her, fangs still bared and threw something down in front of her. She looked up at him annoyed.

"What is that?"

"The reason why I need to talk to Everett"

Ingrid turned it over delicately and shared the same shocked expression as Vlad had when he'd first seen it.

"Is this Everett?" Ingrid asked him

"Dad says no. He told me Uncle Ivan sent it over from America. Apparently it's a young picture of one Alina Calvetti, before she turned. She's fifteen in that picture and if she's not been dusted, she'd be the same age as Ivan"

"So why does she look like Everett ?" Ingrid asked again

"That's what I intend to find out" he told her.

Neither of them noticed Daniel listening in intently, or the concerned expression on his face that appeared and faded quickly.

* * *

**_**_(I couldn't get the accent above some of the letters to appear in my Document, but what I've said here is what I was meaning)_**_**

**_"__...Sa che la mamma e ancora vicino tutta la notte oscura.  
Avere un assaggio di stella scintillante e bere un sorso di luna.  
E quando senti che te ne sei andanto lontano poi salpare per la vostra stanza."_  
**

* * *

_**(I tell you now, it reads better in Italian! The translation is different when I put it through Google but these are the actual lyrics)**_

_**A snippet from: A Sip Of Moon**_

_**"...know that mummy is still close by**_  
_** through the whole dark night**_

_**Have a taste of sparkly star**_  
_** and drink a sip of moon.**_  
_** And when you feel that you have gone far**_  
_** then sail to your room"**_


	17. Chapter 17

**Blackadder 4 reference. "Hello, the Savoy Grill"**

**Enjoy.**

**RomanTinkerBell**

* * *

Her phone buzzed on the table.

"You need to get that?" Jonno asked

Everett checked it "It's just a text"  
She opened the text;

**_They're on to you.  
They've found out about your mum.  
You might need to find somewhere else to sleep tonight.  
Daniel_**

"Ev? Are you alright?"

Everett sighed and rubbed her eyes "Do you know anywhere where I can spend the night?"

"What's happened? Can't you go back to Garside?" Jonno asked, starting to look concerned

She sighed

"I haven't told you why I'm at Garside, have I?"

Jonno shook his head in interest.

"I was on the run. From people that wanted to hurt me. People that want me dead. People that killed my parents. I've been on the run for years. When I came to Garside it was raining, and I got inside and spent the night. I was right under the Dracula's noses and they didn't even know"

She smirked at this

"Anyway, when I woke up the next morning I was sick and the principal found me. She said to The Count that, seeing as I didn't have anywhere else to go, the only logical thing to do was for him to take me in. Which he did. Not like him, I know" she said quickly at Jonno's unbelieving expression.

"Why do they want to kill you?" he asked after a pause

She chewed a nail, a habit of her fathers.

"Because I was born. Even my parent's, parents want me dead. Two separate families want me dead" she used the word 'Families' openly in this instance, meaning Slayers and Vamps, but didn't let on to Jonno.

"My mother's father thought I was an abomination and an embarrassment and my father's family thought I would turn out like my mum"

She could tell she was getting too personal, but she couldn't stop herself. She'd never had anyone to talk to about this.

"Why would they think you'd turn out like your mum?" Jonno asked quietly

Everett propped her elbow on the table and dropped her cheek into her palm

"I don't know. I'm of an Italian heritage. Maybe they thought it was a Mafia thing"

Everett sighed "My mother's mother was the only one who cared about me other than my parents. And they killed her too. There've been too many deaths because of me"

She clutched at her hair, frustrated.

"I just want to be left alone! I just want to live!"

Her phone rang loud and clear this time and upon checking the name, realised she would have to answer it.

"Hello, The Savoy Grill. We deliver and cater Monday to Thursday. How can I help you?"

Jonno chuckled at her across the table.

"You can help by catering to me and getting your butt back here now!" Ingrid hissed down the line "Where are you?!"

"I'm out with a friend" Everett told her

"By friend, do you mean Jonno Van Helsing?"

Everett held the phone out to Jonno "Say hello"

"Hello" he shouted down the line

Both of them were laughing now and Everett heard Ingrid give an irritated groan as she replaced the phone to her ear.

"What's up?" Everett asked her

"Okay, listen. Vlad's on the war path. Dad found something that's pulled you into the equation and now Vlad's wanting answers. He's had problems with you from the start and this may just have caused more problems. Look, I think it's best if you don't come back to the school tonight" Ingrid told her

"Funny. You and Daniel think the same"

"Okay look. I don't really know your situation, but I know you well enough to say don't take this into consideration. Just do as I say. Go back with Jonno or something. Just stay away. Vlad's not the only one who wants answers. And dad has some cruel ways of getting what he wants, even by Vampiric standards"

Everett sighed

"Alright. Thanks for the heads up. Anything else I can help you with?"

"Yeah, there is one thing. There are some Half-Fangs here asking about Amber Veri. They want to know where they can get some"

Everett smiled to Jonno and moved away from their table. When she spoke to Ingrid it was in hushed tones.

"Go to my room. Under a loose floor board under the coffin there are several small vials of gold liquid and gold dust. It's three hundred pounds a vial and they have the choice of the dust or the liquid. If they ask who you are, tell them Callista sent you. Good luck, you're gonna need it"

The line was silent for a few seconds.

"You're not a drug dealer are you Everett?" Ingrid inquired

"No. It's a medical thing!" Everett said sarcastically "I have to make money somehow and with my life I can't hold down a proper job. But don't worry. The liquid is really only Galliano mixed with Botrytis Semillon and the dust is dried and crushed apricot, pear and banana. You can try it if you like"

She didn't tell Ingrid about the secret ingredient.

She heard Ingrid scoff "I just might"

"Is that all?"

"I want to ask about a joint partnership, but we can discuss that later. I'll see you tomorrow at school"

Everett hung up and turned back to the table and Jonno

"So, a place to stay. Any ideas?"

* * *

Renfield was dusting his Master's room and making it thoroughly, Vampiricly, homey.

He knocked something off the dresser and it rolled under the coffin platform.  
He immediately dropped onto his knees and reached underneath, feeling for it.  
He felt something, but didn't realise that it wasn't what he was looking for until he pulled it out.

It was an envelope, addressed to The Count.

"I should give this to The Master immediately"

He raced out of the room, only to come face to face with Ingrid at the Throne Room door.

"Where's the herd of Elephants?"

Renfield looked at her confused "Wha?"

She scoffed and rolled her eyes "Where are you going in such a hurry?"

Renfield, stupidly, showed her the letter.

"This was under your Fathers coffin"

Ingrid snatched it from his hands, ignoring his protests, and ripped it open, taking a breath when she read it.  
She refolded the letter.

"What were you doing when you found this?" she asked him

"I was dusting The Masters room"

"I'll give it to him"

"But-"

"Don't worry, I'll make sure he gets it"

And with that she flashed away, leaving Renfield standing in the hall felling very stupid.

He could only trust her now...and he knew he couldn't.

He gloomily trudged back to The Counts room to continue with his chores.

* * *

****_(I couldn't get the accent above some of the letters to appear in my Document, but what I've said here is what I was meaning)_****

**Veri - Blood**


	18. Chapter 18

Ingrid had placed the letter down beside her as she pushed Everett's coffin across the floor and began locating the loose board the breather girl had been talking about.  
She leant on her hands and knees, pushing down on a few boards at a time until she heard a creak.

She carefully pulled up the board and stuck her hand through the gap into the floor.

She pulled out a cylindrical wrap, tied with a sky blue satin ribbon and an embossed decorative 'S' with a stake crossed through printed onto the leather.

"This must be it" she told herself.

She placed it next to the letter, replaced the board and pushed the coffin back to its original position, then made her way to the dying couch carrying with her the wrap and the letter.

She removed the ribbon and placed the wrap on the table top, rolling it open.  
There were indeed several vials inside. Five had powder and three had liquid, each an orange gold in colour. There were another four gaps where other vials had obviously been.

She carefully removed one of the liquid ones from its spot and uncorked it, allowing its scent to drift under her nose. There was a strong smell of mint and orange, the hint alcohol and...something else. Obviously Everett hadn't told her the other ingredients that had gone into the making of this concoction.  
She replaced the vial and pulled out one filled with dust. There was probably two even tablespoons of fine dust in each of the dust filled containers. She uncorked this one and took a whiff of its contents. She could smell Pear, Banana, apricot and the same unknown substance as in the liquid.

She breathed in too deep and it made her sneeze and cough, sending some of the dust flying into her face, making her breathe in more than she already had before.  
She sneezed again and replaced the cork. Putting the vial back in its spot.

She blinked a couple of times and could feel a pulsing, throbbing headache start up.  
She fell sideways onto the couch and then onto the floor. She could feel her skin twitching. She rolled onto her stomach and reached forward to push herself up, but was unsuccessful and pulled herself across the floor pathetically.

She could see her fingers twitching.

If someone else had been in the room, other than panicking, they would've seen her eyes turn a luminous yellow.

She crawled across the floor and pulled herself up the wall, she could feel her fingers dig into and break the plaster of the wall.

Everett had a few electric lights around, not too bright to cause the Vamps of the household any trouble, but they probably would now considering they were flickering and sparking dangerously.

She dropped to the floor, head feeling like it was spinning and she could taste something sweet in her mouth. She picked herself up off the floor, successfully this time, and shakily made her way back to the couch, lying down when she finally got there.

She watched with widened eyes as she caught sight of herself in the mirror. Her vision stated to become dark but didn't go out completely. It then turned and became too bright, so bright that she hissed and cowered in a corner of the couch with her eyes closed and face buried in her arms.

There was a tingling sensation that started in her toes and fingers that made its way through her body and seemed to tickle her brain.  
She started giggling insanely.

Her giggling turned into bouts of loud laughter and she started to twitch again. Her mild twitching turning into mass convulsions as pins and needles stung at her insides.

She had to breathe, she felt like she was being suffocated. Even though she was a Vamp and didn't need to breathe.  
She coughed and gulped in excessive amounts of air.

She realised it was cold and was determined to find some form of warmth. Her eyes readjusted to the room slowly as she removed her arms.  
There was a blanket thrown haphazardly in the coffin.  
She quickly grabbed it and threw it around her shoulders, returning to the couch and curling up sleepily.

Though her sleep would be plagued by her memories and fears.

* * *

_(Eighteen Years and Nine Months ago)_

_She stared up at this...thing...in front of her, form where she lay in her crib. It was waving something in her face that made a strange noise._

_The thing was smiling down at her and had two chestnut coloured dangly things hanging from its head, tied off at the ends with one pale yellow and one sky blue ribbon. _

_She was more interested in them._

_But she didn't know what colours they were. She didn't realise the dangly things were two plaits her mother had tied her hair in to keep it from getting knotted. She didn't realise the thing was her mother, but she did know she smelled nice and homey._

_She reached past the noise maker trying to grab at the dangly things._

_Her mother saw this and pulled them out of reach of her baby's tiny hands, giving a small melodic laugh "No, no sweet angel. Hair is not a toy"_

**_"But I don't want the "hair" I want the pretty thing hanging from it"_**

_Of course her mother wouldn't be able to understand her for a while, so she would have to live without until then._


	19. Chapter 19

"Thanks for this Jonno. I don't know how I'm gonna repay you" Everett said.

Jonno shrugged as he held open the door to her motel room.

"I'll think of something" he said with a smile  
"If you need anything else just give me or mum a call. I'm sure we'll be able to help you out. I'll see you later"

Everett waved and said a small 'bye' as Jonno shut the door.

She moved next to the small bed and removed her coat and shoes, sat on the bed and wondered what to do next.

There was a knock on the door and Everett jumped up, expecting it to be Jonno come back to keep her company. When she opened the door however, there was a girl with shoulder length blonde hair standing on her step.

"May I come in?"

"I'm sorry? Do I know you?" Everett asked her

The girl ignored Everett's questions and went on.

"I suppose it doesn't matter. I can just come in anyway, seeing as you're not entirely breather" her head was tilted to one side and her eyes wide and dangerous looking as she stepped over the threshold.  
She was followed by a taller male with brown hair and eyes.

Everett stepped back a couple of times to put some distance between her and the intruders.

The male shut the door and stood in front of it as the girl sat down on the bed where Everett had been previously.

"So, you're the little slut that's taken my place. We finally meet" the girl spoke again

"I'm sorry. Am I supposed to know who you are?" Everett asked condescendingly

The girl hissed in warning. Baring a set of fangs.

_'Great, Vamps. That's just what I need...I'm gonna need help'_

Everett breathed deep, she needed a plan! She eyed her coat next to the female Vampire.

"I'm Erin" The girl directed the attention back to her "That's Malik" she continued, pointing to the male standing guard at the door. They gave each other an affectionate smile.

Everett shook her head "Nope, sorry. Doesn't ring a bell. Can I have my coat? It's a little chilly"

Erin rolled her eyes and threw the coat to her. Everett caught it one handed and threw it on quickly, letting her hands dive into her pockets to locate her phone. She had Ingrid on speed dial. It was a long shot, but it was worth it, if they didn't catch on.

"Why are you here? do you want to kill me? If so, I'd have to say to get in line. It's a long line by the way"

Erin and Malik looked to each other and both cracked a grin

"We're not here to kill you" Erin said

"But we'll gladly tell the High Council where you're hiding" Malik hissed

Everett hissed back, letting her two sets of fangs appear.

They both seemed surprised, maybe by her reaction, maybe because she had a double set of fangs. She didn't know and she didn't care.

"That is, unless you help us" he continued

"Why would I help you?" She asked

"Because your whole life you've done one thing. Survive" Erin told her "And you always know which side you'll benefit from"

"But that's just the thing, I straddle both sides of the line. I've never benefited from one side or the other" Everett told her forcefully.

Erin shrugged

"Well I suppose we should just kill you now" Malik said and he hissed again

Erin stood between them and made her way across to Everett, a swagger in her step "We haven't even told her what we want her to do yet sweetie. If she still won't help us after, then you can kill her"

Everett swallowed as Erin stared into her soul.

"What do you want with me?" Everett punctuated her words to emphasise her point, tired of playing these round-about games, wanting to get to the end of this conversation. If she was going to die tonight, she wanted it over with.

"We want you to save Malik's mother" Erin told her evenly

Everett blinked several times "That's it?"

They both nodded

"Why can't you two save her?"

"Because the Dracula's have stated that they would not hesitate to kill us if they ever saw us again. Even if we just happen to be on the same street at the same time" Malik said

"Is she even alive? Where would they even keep her if she was alive?" Everett asked him

"We know she's alive, she's trapped that's all!" Malik said, starting to become temperamental. Erin moved to his side and placed a hand on his arm to calm him.

"Inside the Dracula's Blood Mirror" she finished for him

Everett had never heard of a Blood Mirror before. She'd not gone through her transformation like regular Vampires, she'd been cursed at a young age to be turned, but not turn completely.

"And how am I supposed to help?" she questioned

"I know you have a reflection that has a mind of its own. I think maybe it'll be able to open the Vortex from the inside allowing you to cross through" Erin told her "You can either do this for us, or die now"

Everett was silent for a moment, fuming with hatred for this couple.

"Fine" she finally stated "I do this for you and you two never come near me again! That goes for your mother as well!"

Erin grinned wickedly "Deal"

"I'll contact you when it's done, a stake in a wall near Garside or something. And I'll leave her here. You just have to come and collect her" Everett stated

Erin and Malik both turned to leave, that was until Erin thought of something

"Oh, and if you double cross us...Vlad won't be able to save you"

They both flashed from the room.

Everett shut the door quickly and leant against it, pulling out her phone.

"I hope to God you got all that Ingrid" she said before she hung up, unaware that Ingrid hadn't answered.


	20. Chapter 20

Jonno arrived back at Slayer HQ to a paranoid mother.

"Where have you been?" Was the first thing Mina asked him when he walked in.

"I was with Ev. She needed help with something" he told his mum

"What did she need help with?"

"What's with the third degree?"

Mina sighed as she rubbed the back of her neck

"We picked up an interesting conversation between Vlad and The Count through the bug in the Throne Room" Mina guided her son to a desk and sat down with him.

"I've been doing some research as well, just to make sure my facts are straight"

She sighed again

"I know you've grown fond of Ev over these few months, so I'm sorry if this comes as a shock but...she's not who she seems"

"What do you mean mum?"

"The Count received a portrait the other night of an Alina Calvetti. I thought it sounded familiar that's why I did the research" Mina said. "Do you remember reading about a Samuel Ainsley at anytime?" she asked.

Jonno thought for a second. The name did sound familiar, but in the end he shook his head in disappointment.

"He was the first recorded Slayer in eight hundred years to be tried and hung for associating and marrying a Vampire and producing offspring with said Vampire"

Jonno thought back to what Ev had said earlier about wanting to be left alone.

"You think it's Ev? Don't you? That's why you brought her into it" Jonno accused

"Both The Count and Vlad said that the person in the picture looked exactly like Ev. Everett, as they called her. There's never been a name put to the child Of Alina and Samuel Ainsley. We've only ever know that it was a female child. The death of this child is the only thing Slayer and Vampires have ever been able to agree on and that's only because some moronic Vamp cursed the child when she was little"

"Well it's just a coincidence! Just because someone looks like someone else doesn't mean that they're related or the same person!" he picked up his gun and started walking back to the exit.

"Where do you think you're going?!" his mother yelled

"Back out! Away from you! And did you ever think that maybe this person you're talking about just wants to be left alone?!" he screamed over his shoulder incredulously

* * *

Everett hadn't slept that night. She'd ended up bolting the door, keeping the windows shut and breaking apart the wooden bed head just so she had some sort of make shift stake. She kept herself huddled in a corner all night.

So you can imagine the crick in her neck she had the next morning after staring at the door all night and leaning against the wall.

She was still stretching and cracking her bones and muscles when she reached the school the next morning. And unfortunately for her, McCauley was the first person she ran into.

"Everett, what are you doing out here? Why aren't you in class?"

"If you don't mind Miss McCauley, I'd rather not say. I'm just going to go upstairs, change into my uniform and then make my way to my next class" Everett told her, half asleep

"Everett, you look awful. Are not feeling well?" McCauley asked her

"I didn't get any sleep last night, so I guess I'm just tired is all" Everett replied as she made her way up the stairs.

"Just another question before you go" McCauley called

Everett stopped on the stairs, tempted to say that the bell would go and she wouldn't make it to classes for the rest of the day if teacher kept questioning her.

"Have you seen Ingrid at all? Apparently she went missing last night and hasn't been seen since"

Everett faltered _'What does she mean went missing last night?'_

"Uhh...no. Sorry"

Everett quickly ran up the stairs, making a bee line for her room.

She was half surprised to see Ingrid lying on the couch, curled up under a blanket, sleeping.

She was relieved to see that the other young woman was safe but at the same time something was unnerving her.  
Her father's old weapons wrap was unravelled and the drugs glistening golden in the sunlight. It was then she noticed that the curtains were open and light was streaming through straight on top of Ingrid.  
Everett dashed to close the drapes and then dashed back over to Ingrid.

She rolled the older girl over so she faced her.

"How much of that stuff did you have?" Everett whispered to herself

She gently pat Ingrid's cheek trying to wake her up.

"Wake up Ingrid" she shook the sleeping girl "Wake up!" she yelled.

There was only one thing for it.

Everett let her double set of fangs drop and bit into her wrist. She had to squeeze the wound to make it bleed and forced Ingrid's mouth open to allow the thick, sticky, florescent orange substance to flow between her lips.

After a few minutes Ingrid began to come round and Everett pulled her arm away, wiping the wound on the inside of her jacket.

Ingrid sat up clutching her head.

"Hey. You alright now?" Everett asked her

"Not really. What happened last night?" Ingrid asked irritated

"How much of that stuff did you take?"

"I just sniffed it. But then I sneezed and more of it flew up into my face. What is that stuff?"

Everett scratched her cheek as she rolled the wrap back up

"It's a concentrate of specific ingredients that when put together make a substance that enables a Vampire to become half human for a temporary amount of time"

_'Just like me' _Everett thought

"If the Vamp in question has too much at one time it can put them into a sleep that only has one cure"

"And what's that?" Ingrid asked her

"Vampire blood" Everett told her.

Ingrid looked horrified.

"You were only lucky you didn't inhale too much to cause damage, so you didn't need the Vamp blood. Some of my Vampire clients use it and my dad originally made it for his Vampire friends that felt the want to be more human"

"Don't let Vlad find out. He'd buy you out" Ingrid stated

Everett chuckled before continuing.

"The other ingredients like pear and alcohol are used to cover the taste and smell of the other, more horrid, ingredients. You may not have your full Vampiric abilities for a while by the way. You'll have your strength, speed and senses but they'll be cut down to only half power" Everett said

Everett then moved to her closet and pulled out her uniform and started to change.

"You can stay here if you like today" she stated from behind the door

"What are you doing?" came a groggy question

"School's already started. McCauley's on my arse to get down there. I told her I'd get to my next class, thankfully I have a free period" Everett said sarcastically "Which means I have to teach"

She slammed the closet door closed and adjusted her skirt, facing the other girl who was now sitting up.

"By the way, check your phone messages. I had some uninvited guests in my motel room last night and you obviously didn't pick up!"

She made her way to the door letting her hand rest on the handle

"I just hope I don't have to teach your brother today"

She exited leaving the door open behind her

Ingrid groaned "Why are you so grumpy this morning?"

"Because I'm tired!" Everett shouted back

"Well if anyone should be grumpy it's me!" Ingrid screamed.

She clutched her head as it throbbed and leaned back against the couch.


	21. Chapter 21

**I've had so much trouble with this one today! First it doen't load properly, then the translator is all wrong and I have to re-edit, then it doesn't want to load again...****I just hope it's all worked out this time!**

**I't been a rough day I can tell ya!**

**I hope you all enjoy it.**

**RomanTinkerBell**

* * *

_(Nine Years Ago)_

_"What did you do?" _

_Fausta's voice was soft and deadly as she stared at her husband angrily._

_"What do you mean she is dead?!"_

_Dante looked down his nose at his wife. She was, after all, just a woman. It wasn't like she could really do anything to hurt him._

_"I had Morgan conduct an investigation into Alina's where abouts during her time away and also her new family. It is not what you think Fausta. Our Grandchild...the child you love so much...her father is a Breather"_

_Fausta continued to stare at him with her livid glare._

_"And you think that that is a problem? Do you think that I do not know about **your** fornicazione after eight hundred years of marriage? You, Signore, are an ipocrita! How many illegitimate children do you think you might have?! And yet you slay the only one that matters the most!"_

_She stopped for a moment to regain her composure_

_"What are you going to do to our Grandchild when you find her?" Fausta questioned him_

_"That will be decided by Morgan. Most likely she will be slain. But...I tell you now. I did not want Alina dead. No matter how I may have acted or spoken, I did love her. I tried to save her and gave her a chance to do so herself. And even though I am a vecchio pazzo! I have given our Granddaughter a fighting chance"_

_Dante took his wife by the shoulders so she was forced to keep looking him in the eye. She tried her best to shake him off but he wouldn't have it._

_"Morgan does not know I have done this, and if he does find out he will have me slain for assisting a criminal. I used dark magic to curse the child, making her neither Vampire nor Human and yet more of each. If they wish to find her they will have to start walking in the daylight. Family does mean something to me"_

_He sighed_

_"When I first approached Morgan, I did not think it would be something like this. I knew something was different about the child and I was proud and stupid then because I thought it was essential to know what it was. But watching the child grow made me grow protective of her. I wish now I could take it all back"_

_His voice broke. He looked desperately into the eyes of his wife, begging for her to forgive him._

_"You are right about one thing, husband" Fausta whispered "You **are** an old fool. You are a fool if you think I will believe that cock and bull story! And if you don't do something to stop them going after our Granddaughter, I will! And then I'll slay you!"_

_She hissed and her dress cape flared around her as she fled from the room._

* * *

"-Solo una semplice canzoncina  
nel suo buon senso irlandese vecchio.  
E darei il mondo se poteva cantare  
quella canzone per me oggi

Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, too-ra-loo-ra-li  
Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, silenzio ora, non piangere  
Too-ra-loo-ra-looral, too-ra-loo-ra-li-"

Everett entered the empty room McCauley had designated for her, only to see Vlad seated at the table.

Everett sighed and let her forehead fall onto the door frame.

"This is **so** **not** a good morning for me" she mumbled

She made her way in and sat down heavily in the chair across from him.

It was silent as they stared at each other, Everett wearing a bored expression and Vlad an expectant one.

Her sanity finally cracked.

"What!"

"Where were you last night? I thought you had to work" he more stated than asked

"So I lied, it was only a little one! What of it?!"

"You didn't come back. Leads me to believe you might be up to something"

Everett scoffed in disgust at his accusations

"I didn't come back because Ingrid forewarned me about your foul mood! I'm surprised you didn't go looking for her by the way! She is your sister after all!"

"You're the one who lied! Don't try turning the tables by making me the bad guy!"

He emphasised his anger by slamming his hands on the table and getting to his feet.

"It wasn't even a big lie! I just wanted to go out for a night and meet a friend! Is that such a crime?!"

Vlad growled

"What? Jealous now?" Everett teased sarcastically

"What friend?" Vlad hissed lowly

"Just a friend. Ingrid also said your dad has something that involves me. Is this amplifying your anger toward me now?"

Vlad turned away and pulled something out of his pocket, staring down at it almost sadly and disdainfully.  
He turned back and lobbed it to her; she caught it as it slid across the table. Her hand covering it completely.

She removed her hand and looked down at it. Her breath hitched in her throat. Vlad watched her reaction carefully.

_'Mum. I'd forgotten what she looked like'_

Vlad continued to watch her as she stared down at the portrait. He had been expecting instantaneous denial, but all he got was silence. She didn't even acknowledge that he was there.

She gently picked up the picture.

"She looks like me"

There was more silence between them.

"Is this why you're angry with me?" Everett asked him eventually

"I'm not angry. I just want to understand what's going on" Vlad told her "Save for the hair length, she looks like you. Why does she look like you? Is she you? Have you been lying to us this whole time? To me?"

He looked at her, his tone quiet and sounding desperate.

She hated having to lie to him. Not telling him who she really was. Who this woman was to her.

"I guarantee it's just a coincidence Vlad. I was born in '93, that's a definite" she told him

She looked down at the picture again.

"So who is she?" she feigned unknowing

Vlad came to stand behind her, staring down at the picture from over her shoulder  
"Her name is Alina Calvetti. She's a childhood friend of dad's. She actually dated my uncle for a while apparently"

Everett made a face. She couldn't imagine her mother being with anyone other than her father, especially if 'anyone' was an elder member of the Dracula clan.  
He placed his hands on the back of the chair and she leaned into him unconsciously.

"She's beautiful" Everett stated, trying her best to hide the affection in her voice.

"Says something about you" Vlad stated gently also unconscious to his actions and words. But Everett wasn't.

_'Did he just call me beautiful?'_

She stood from her chair abruptly, letting her hands fall into her pockets with the portrait of her mother clamped protectively in her fingers.  
"Um, I don't feel so good. I'm just gonna go back upstairs and lie down for a bit."

She exited the room as quickly as she could. Leaving Vlad to wonder what he'd done wrong...if he had.

* * *

Everett entered her room again, un-surprised that Ingrid was still there and passed out again on the couch.  
She was shivering so Everett threw the blanket back over her and opened the curtains. It would be a few hours yet until Ingrid returned to her full Vampiric self.

Everett groaned lightly as her head fell back onto her pillow.

"You too?"

"Did I wake you? Sorry Ingrid"

"I'm in too much pain to sleep" Ingrid told her

"That makes two of us"

They both groaned unanimously.

"I take it you had Vlad waiting for you?" Ingrid asked her

"Was it that obvious? He threw a picture at me" Everett told her

Everett heard her chuckle lightly and observed her waving a hand in the general direction of the table "Would it have anything to do with that?"

"I just got in this thing now you want me to get out?" Everett said jadedly, indicating to her coffin that she now lay inside of.  
She shrugged "Well okay. Don't expect me to be quick about it though"

Everett rolled out of her coffin and slowly crawled her way across the floor to the table and around to sit in front of Ingrid who didn't move an inch.  
Everett pulled her legs up so her knees sat close to her chest.

"Now what were you wanting me to see?"

"Hnnn. Don't make me talk. Everything hurts too much!" Ingrid complained "Just look on the table"

_'Sorry Ingrid. First time, it's gonna hurt for hours. Be a woman. Grin and bear it'_ Everett wondered why she didn't just say this...she was so tempted to.

Everett shuffled forward a little to grab things off the table.  
As Ingrid had made no attempt to tell her what she was looking at, Everett now had to go through pages of homework and other paperwork concerning the club.

She didn't have to search for long...or at all really.  
As she gently placed the old weapon wrap down beside her, an envelope slid across the other papers to the floor.

She picked it up and looked it over.

The seal was already broken, meaning someone had already read it. She unfolded the letter that was inside and read the quick slanting writing.

**_Dear Big Brother_**

**_After our conversation last night, I decided to contact the Calvetti's._**

**_Alina has been slain. She's been dust for nine years now.  
According to her father, she was found fraternising with Slayers. She even had a family with one._**

**_Vladimir is interested in peace with the Slayers, is he not? _**

**_Whoever this girl is, it is not Alina Calvetti. _**

**_Apparently Alina's child would be nineteen years of age now, and so would have already gone through the change.  
But, I wonder, you said the girl was a breather?  
Did she choose to be or was she born that way?_**

**_Just a thought._**

**_Ivan_**

Everett placed the letter on the table.

"So? Care to tell?"

Everett hadn't even noticed that Ingrid was now sitting up, looking a lot better.

"I thought you were in too much pain to talk?"

"Well, that was then and this is now. Ooh sun!" Ingrid warmed her legs in the light

_'I think I need to get the water pistol' _Everett thought and could almost feel the cartoonish 'Sweat Drop' rolling down the side of her face

There was a knock on the door and Ingrid, using her speed, zipped to answer it.  
Vlad stood on the other side, expecting to see Everett.

Everett quickly threw the papers back on the table after discreetly hiding the letter in-between some of the pages. She hid the wrap under the blanket.

"Little brother! How lovely to see you today. Did you want to talk to Everett? I'll leave you two alone then"  
Ingrid said this as fast as a vampire could run and then disappeared in that same way, leaving Vlad to stare at where her head had been only seconds ago.

He pointed to the vacant space  
"Is it just me, or was that stranger than usual?"

He stepped inside but left the door open.

"Ingrid got drunk last night. I think she's still a bit buzzed" Everett told him "Do you have any water pistols around the place?"

Vlad looked at her questioningly

"I think we may need a way to control her" she verified

His brows met his hairline. He seemed to like the idea.

"Was there a reason you came up here? I thought you liked school?" she asked him

He cleared his throat awkwardly "Well you said you weren't feeling well and you rushed from the room pretty quickly. I just wanted to make sure you were alright"

Everett scoffed

"Read; 'I didn't do anything wrong, did I?'"

She laughed a little at his shocked face and his stuttering denial. He gave up in the end, dropping his chin to his chest and breathing out heavily.

"Well did I?"

He was so cute with his wide pleading eyes and concerned features that made his lip pout.

She giggle lightly and got up, making her way over to him. She held his face in her hands as she placed a sweet kiss on his lips.

"You did nothing wrong" she said when she parted from him "I just didn't sleep well last night" she told him as honestly as she could...although it wasn't far from the truth.

He pulled her to him and her head fell onto his shoulder.

"I don't think McCauley would mind if you had the rest of the free period to sleep" he told her in suggestive tones, but she was too tired to function properly, her eyes had already started to close again.  
"I've already see McCauley. I think she worries too much but wouldn't appreciate it"

They heard the bell ring downstairs.

"Too late now anyways" she stated annoyed, peeling herself away from his comforting embrace.

* * *

****_(I couldn't get the accent above some of the letters to appear in my Document, but what I've said here is what I was meaning)_****

_**Fornicazione - Fornication**_

_**Signore - Sir**_

_**Ipocrita - Hypocrite**_

_**Vecchio Pazzo - Old Fool**_

* * *

_**"-Solo una semplice canzoncina**_  
_** nel suo buon senso irlandese vecchio.**_  
_** E darei il mondo se poteva cantare**_  
_** quella canzone per me oggi**_

_**Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, too-ra-loo-ra-li**_  
_** Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, silenzio ora, non piangere**_  
_** Too-ra-loo-ra-looral, too-ra-loo-ra-li-"**_

* * *

_**A snipet from Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral**_

_**"- Only a simple song **_  
_**in her good old Irish way**_  
_**And I'd give the world if she could sing**_  
_**that song for me today**_

_**Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, too-ra-loo-ra-li**_  
_**Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, hush now, do not cry**_  
_**Too-ra-loo-ra-looral, too-ra-loo-ra-li-"**_


	22. Chapter 22

_(Nine Years Ago)_

_They'd spent eight months in Russia now and had actually found some friends in the low key Russian Street Rat Vamps.  
Ones that had been attacked in dark alley ways. Turned against their will and were not enjoying their immortality._

_One of them in particular, Castelle, had taken a liking so much so that he'd taken up permanent residence with them as their bodyguard. Especially since something similar had happened to him.  
He had a raging hatred for the VHC and was also wanted within the Vampire Community. So it only made sense. _

_On this particular night they were in their warm hotel room, away from the slip and slide that was the frost covered streets of the Russian City of Moscow.  
Castelle was seated by the door in a plush chair he'd stolen from the lobby of the grand hotel they were situated in, his Fan Knife flipping around his fingers expertly._

_He watched Everett as she slept in the armchair nearby, her father fussing around in another room with the door closed._

_Sam had had an interesting conversation with Castelle the other night and now he was on a mission to make the friendly Vamps wishes come true._

_Castelle missed being a human._

_And though he knew the Vamp could never be classified human, Sam was under the impression that there was a way for him to become something human, even temporarily.  
Sam saw it every day when he looked at his daughter. _

_A little girl, born Half Vampire Half Slayer and cursed to be that way at nine and a half, now ten, years of age. Cursed to turn and yet never completely. Never complete._

_If she could be that way, why couldn't Castelle? Even temporarily._

_He knew there would be a market for it if he could make the formula._

_There was a knock on the front door behind Castelle and Sam heard the Vampire, grudgingly, remove himself from his chair and answer.  
There was talking and hissing and Sam quickly made his way from his room._

_Castelle had turned into the room, the door now shut, and was baring his fangs to something behind where Sam stood, something near the sleeping Everett._

_Sam turned, stake at the ready._

_An aging female Vampire was crouched by the young girl, stroking her hair affectionately. _

_All Sam could see was the greying hair that looked as if it had been recently cut short and the back of what used to be an extravagant dress cloak._

_"I would ask that you step away from my daughter" Sam said, trying not to let his fear show._

_The woman stood and turned to him, staring him down with Sapphire blue orbs._

_He nearly dropped his stake in shock. He'd know those eyes anywhere._

_"What devilry is this? Are you trying to haunt my memories?!" he shouted, maybe a little too loudly and too...Shakespearian._

_"Oh be quiet, you'll wake her!" hissed the elder Vamp. She walked over and removed the stake from his lax grip "All Calvetti women have Sapphire eyes. And is this any way to treat your Mother-In-Law?!" she stated, shaking the stake in his face and crushing it into splinters before his very eyes._

_This seemed to rouse him from his shock_

_"What are you doing here?!" _

_Fausta looked at him sadly._

_"I've left my husband" she stated simply_

_"And I'm supposed to believe that?" he questioned savagely._

_She set him with a hard gaze, her tone dead serious when she spoke._

_"When I found out that the fool had gone to the VHC all those years ago, I was beside myself. I knew that nothing good would come in the years that followed. Alina did not know, she didn't need to know and she shouldn't have been the centre of an investigation to begin with. I tried my best to keep them both with me as to protect them both, as best as I could. Evidently, Alina was strong of will, she always was, and she left to return to you" _

_Fausta moved to crouch down by her Granddaughter again._

_"I could do nothing to protect them both from then and it took me years to be able to find another solution. You see, all those years of having my Granddaughter grow under my roof, made me see a light in myself and Alina that I haven't seen in centuries...and that light should not be allowed to be extinguished. It's a light that the Vampire World needs. It is sad that, only now I realise that family is everything. But because of that man I call my husband, I now have no family"_

_She turned her head to look at Sam, a plea in her eyes._

_"Please allow me to find that light again, to help it grow. Please allow me to protect my family"_

_Castelle chose this moment to step in_

_"When you say you found another solution, what do you mean exactly?"_

_Fausta stiffened and gulped before saying anything_

_"I read through my mother's magic books and found a spell that would allow Everett become a Halfling. An older breed of Vampire that is mythicised to be the origin of all Vampires of today. Much like the Apes to Man. She will be able to walk in the sun, she'll be immune to Holy Water and Garlic and some other things, but because she is also Half Breather, I don't know what restrictions or changes she will have, if any. The only misfortune is that I couldn't change Alina in time...the ingredients are hard to come by and can be only used once you see"_

_Sam didn't know what to think. He was too shocked by what he was hearing to have a conscious thought._

_"You, cursed my daughter!" he finally stated "You cursed my daughter and you were going to curse your own!"_

_Castelle hissed and Sam stepped forward pulling another stake from his belt.  
Fausta shut her eyes in preparation as he place the pointed end under her chin._

_"You're lucky your curse saved her" he hissed at her through gritted teeth "Because it's that only thing saving you now!"_

_He glared at her a bit longer before returning to his room and slamming the door behind him._

_Castelle stared after him sadly. Sam was still suffering after his wife's death, it was understandable._

_Fausta released a breath._

_"Just wait until the VHC find out what you've done" he told her_

_"They already know, even though Dante covered for me and took the blame. They did nothing because he's a man. I'm a woman. There will be punishment for me when he's not looking. Now more than ever when they find out the truth, when they find out it was me and not him" she said_

_"Now you're a criminal on the run" he stated_

_She nodded grimly and Castelle returned to his chair._

_Fausta sat down on the couch with her head in her hands._

_"Grandmamma?"_

_She looked over to her now wakened Granddaughter._

_"Yes, it's me. Hello sweet angel"_


	23. Chapter 23

**Here's the next chapter.**

**Enjoy**

**RomanTinkerBell**

* * *

Everett was falling asleep in her math class when there was a knock on the door.

She wouldn't hear it though.  
She wouldn't even be paying attention until one of the students next to her slammed a book down on a table, making her jump.

The rest of the class was sniggering including the teacher.

"Miss Ainsley, Mr Count would like to see you about something" the teacher told her with a grin.

Everett looked toward the door to see Vlad standing in the doorway with a light smile.

She picked up her belongings and walked out into the hall.  
Vlad closed the door behind him and they started down the hall.

"So what does your dad want?" she asked him, she yawned to emphasize how tired she was.

"Dunno. He didn't send me." he said

Everett stopped and made a face "What?"

"I lied. He doesn't need to see you. But I've thought of a way to wake you up" he answered with a suggestive grin.

She squinted in confusion "What?"

He grabbed her by her waist and zoomed into a nearby closet.

"Ahh I get it now. You're feelin' frisky" she said with a sly grin, one that began to match his own.

She let her arms slide around his frame to hold him and he pulled her into him roughly, making her gasp in delight.

He leaned forward and kissed her passionately.  
His hands travelled to her derrière, holding to it and her tightly, as if she would disappear into the air if he let her go.  
The heat of her body spurred him forward and he picked her up to cling to his waist, pushing her skirt up.

She pulled away from the kiss.

"We're gonna do this in a closet?" she asked, breathing heavy

"Is there a problem?" he questioned

"No. Just means we have to be quiet"

She grinned and he grinned back, their noses and foreheads touching sweetly, before stockings, pants and underwear started coming off and a hot passion filled the small space around them, becoming hotter every passing second with the quiet breaths exchanged and the constant deliberation of being caught.

* * *

Everett was seated on the stairs during break.

She was watching Ingrid, who was watching her in return as she sat in an elaborate chair across from the stairs.

Turns out The Count had wanted to see her, but Vlad had wanted her first. So when they turned up late and he was in a mood, she wasn't at all surprised.

It had come to The Counts attention that Ingrid was acting strange.  
Given he always thought she was acting strange...because she was a girl. But he now thought she was acting stranger than usual.

He'd charged Vlad and Everett with finding out exactly what was wrong.

So here she now sat, waiting for Vlad to return with the water pistols.

Everett knew that through the day Ingrid's Vampiric instincts would rise and fall and that Garlic Juice and Wooden Stakes wouldn't cut it.  
Not that Vlad knew, and she wouldn't tell him...for now.

She let her face fall into her hands and breathed out a sigh. Raising her head again, she noticed that Ingrid had taken off.

"Aw crap!" she muttered

A pink and blue plastic gun dropped into her vision. She stared at it, feeling cross-eyed.

"Just because I'm a girl you think pink is appropriate?" she stated as Vlad came to stand at the bottom of the stairs in front of her, still holding out the toy to her.

"No. I just like the green one" he said with a smile

She took the green one from his other hand.

"So do I"

She returned the smile and started off down the hall toward the bathroom. He ran to catch up to her.

"Where are you going?" he asked her when he caught up to her.

"Ingrid's gone again, she's a girl, I'm gonna check in here first"

She pushed open the door and went straight to a basin, emptying the contents of the gun down the drain and rinsing it out half a dozen times.  
Even though she knew Ingrid wouldn't have any reaction to Garlic Juice, she didn't want any repercussions from keeping it.

Thinking back on the conversation she'd had with Vlad about it made her chuckle and shake her head;

**"So, Garlic Juice or Holy Water?" he asked  
"She's your sister. You really want to burn her?" she asked  
"You just answered your own question, in the form of a question" he told her  
She gave him a look "Ha ha. Serious answer though Vlad"  
"Garlic Juice it is!"**

...She refilled the pistol with water from the tap and stared up at her reflection.

It winked at her and held a finger to its lips. Meaning it would stay quiet until they were sure the room was empty.

Everett knew Ingrid was too smart to be hiding in a bathroom, but she wanted to be sure that there was no-one else that would hear her conversing with her reflection.  
She was lucky there wasn't.

_"I'm beginning to like it here'_ it told her  
"Only just beginning to? Is there a reason why? Or is it because of Vlad?"

Her reflection smirked

_"To serious matters though"_ it said dropping its voice _"What are we going to do about last night's uninvited_ _guests?"_

"We have to talk with Ingrid. Seriously talk with Ingrid and find out what she knows" Everett stated

_"Which means finding her"_ her reflection stated _"And finding her before either Vlad or Renfield do"_

"Damn, I forgot about Renfield. He'll be slaughtered if he finds her fist"

_"Then what are you waiting for?"_

Everett made her way out of the bathroom and quickly suggested to Vlad that they split up.  
He wasn't too keen on the idea but eventually she convinced him that it would be more efficient.

He sped off in one direction and Everett entered the sunlit courtyard.

Everett was sure she would be somewhere well lit because of her reaction to the sunlight earlier that morning.  
But now that she had outside to deal with, there was a lot more ground to cover.

_'May as well call for her'_

"Ingrid!"

She wasn't worried if she caught the attention of teachers and students, as long as she caught the attention of the one person she was looking for.  
She wandered and called and eventually McCauley emerged from the building.

"Miss Ainsley! There are students in class now! What's all this yelling?!"

"Ingrid's gone missing again. We're hoping she's somewhere on the grounds" Everett told her plainly

McCauley looked at her taken a back. "Oh. Well could you conduct your investigation a little quieter please"

Everett nodded and just as McCauley was walking away she thought of something

"Sorry, Miss, Just to inform you. Ingrid's acting a little more stranger that usual, and she could quiet possibly be dangerous. If you do see her at any time, don't engage her and find me as soon as possible. Don't go looking for Vlad, Renfield or The Count"

McCauley looked at her seriously and folded her arms.

"I take it you know what's wrong with her" the principal stated

Everett stayed quiet, a serious look in her eye. McCauley remained quiet as well until she spoke again.

"If I see her...I'll come find you as quickly as possible" and she made her way back inside.


	24. Chapter 24

Everett remained quiet for the remainder of the time she searched outside and eventually made her way into the forest area nearby that she hung out in at night.

It was out here that she found Jonno.

"What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same question" he said, almost accusingly.

Her voice flattened "What?"

He pulled out a gun, a regular gun, the barrel aimed at her "Who are you really?"

She could hear her heartbeat now "Ev. I'm Ev. You know that, I told you myself"

"I know you're lying...well, sort of. You're not telling the full truth" he shouted "Mum heard them, talking about you. Over the bug in the Throne Room"

She was caught now.

"How much do you know?"

"One word; **Ainsley!**"

"Okay, fine! I admit it. I'm **Everett Ainsley!** But they don't know what that truly means" she said pointing toward the school "But I told you the truth! I was telling the truth when I said they killed my parents, I was telling the truth when I said they want me dead because I was born. And I was telling the truth when I said I just wanted to be left alone, to live. And I'm meaning The VHC when I say 'they'"

She hoped her sincerity reached out to him.

They stared each other down a bit longer.

"I believe you" he finally said.

He lowered the gun and Everett released the breath she'd be holding.

She could've sworn she heard a flat line ringing through her ears at one point.

"So what are you doing out here?" he asked her

"Believe it or not, I'm looking for Ingrid"

He looked at her confused "Wouldn't she be dust by now?"

It was at this point something dropped down on top of him.  
Something, big, bulky and buzz cut.

Jonno screamed as the thing over him hissed and bared a set of fangs.  
He pulled out a stake from somewhere but the thing...Vampire, knocked it away from him.

Jonno looked about ready to faint, until Everett spoke up.

"He's a friend Castelle. That's enough, I think he's pissed himself"

The Vamp, Castelle, removed himself from Jonno and moved to wrap protective arms around his charge.  
"You're father would've killed me if he knew I'd lost you for even a second" came the reply, laced with a thick Russian accent.

"I thought you'd been staked" Everett said, a hint of a tear in her eye

He pulled her close again "Not this time Принцесса"

"Uh, hi. Not meaning to be rude, but how is he out in the sun?" Jonno asked sceptically.

"The same way Ingrid is, a specialized drug. But she isn't in control of herself like Castelle is. She's new to it. So everything that makes her, her, is tipping dramatically from one side of the scale to the other." Everett told him

"Okay. I didn't understand any of that, but I heard "Isn't", "Control", "Dramatically" and "Ingrid" and those don't go together well in any sentence" Jonno stated

"Well care to help me look?" she asked

"I'm a Slayer, if it's to do with Vamps, I'm in. but I'll get in trouble if I slay her. I'll get into trouble if ayone aside from her, finds out I was here"

"You won't be able to saly her. She's out in the sun, I'd say she's pretty immune to your Slayer tech. Anyway Castelle and I'll be able to subdue her if we have to. We've dealt with this before" Everett told him

She turned to Castelle.

"It's her very first day"

Castelle 'Ahh'ed' and commented that _'First days were always hard'_ and helped Jonno to his feet

They wandered back onto the grounds together.

"Castelle, how much time do you have left before you revert?"

"At least forty-eight hours, Принцесса"

"Could you please go onto the roof and check if she's up there?"

He nodded and flashed away into the air.

Jonno watched him do so and stood there for a few seconds afterwards before he noticed Everett was proceeding back into the building and he had to chase after her.

"So, how exactly is he able to do that?" he questioned

Everett sighed and ran a hand through her hair as they walk together down a hall. She explained everything to him in hushed tones to make sure no one overheard.

"-and Ingrid accidentally inhaled too much of the dust, so now she's having her first day reaction to it, which means she has little to no control of herself or her instincts" she finished

"So, she could either be chowing down on some innocent bystander, or Vampire for that matter...please never explain that to me again" he side noted "or she could be rolling around in pain somewhere in the sun either from the drug or because she'd be burning up" he calculated

"Correct"

"Why did your dad make this drug in the first place?!" he questioned

"Because he wanted to give a gift to Castelle and our other Vamp friends as a thank you" she told him "I kept it going and I only have a few select clients that I tell about it"

"Are you on it?"

"I'm the main ingredient. Do you really think I need to be on it?"

She stopped him.

"Look Jonno, I believe that we really are friends and I wouldn't be telling you any of this if I didn't trust you. Given, you did sorta find out on your own and were ambushed by Castelle. But that doesn't mean I wasn't going to say anything to you ever, I was just trying to pick my timing"

He looked her straight in the eye "And as I said before, I believe you" he said seriously.

They smiled to each other and continued down the hall.

"One question though. What's to stop Castelle from making more of this drug himself?"

"A valid question" she nodded "I'm the only one who knows how it's made. My father passed the information to me before he was killed"

There was a flash in front of them and they looked ahead of them warily.  
Everett held up her water gun.

"You might wanna have that out just in case" she said, indicating to the gun on his on his hip "That's gonna be more effective if things get hairy"

* * *

****_(I couldn't get the accent above some of the letters to appear in my Document, but what I've said here is what I was meaning)_****

_**Принцесса - Princess**_


	25. Chapter 25

**Only a short chapter this week and I'm so sorry for the long delay.  
I'm still working hard to try and come up with ideas. **

**I had to change alot of my original ideas because of how things played out in the series.  
****Where I was thinking of Everett as simply a Half Vampire - Half Human, I've now had to make her something more.**

**It's all so complicated...my brain hurts now...**

**Enjoy your reading,**

**R.**

* * *

Castelle wandered along the edge of the roof looking down on another courtyard below.

So far, no sunbathing Vamp or pile of dust.

He moved back up to the apex of the roof and took a better look at his surroundings;  
Students, a fair distance away on one of the fields, several large badly patched holes in said roof, a girl sitting on a chimney sunbathing, someone staring at him from a window...he back tracked and deadpanned.

She'd not been there moments before and the person in the window was gone when he looked back.

He made his way over to the girl.

"Are you Ingrid?" he asked her

"Depends who's asking" she stated without opening her eyes

"My name is Castelle-" he started

"The name does sound familiar" she interrupted

"-I'm Everett's guardian. I'm here to help you"

"Help me?" she questioned now looking him up and down with an unbelieving glance "Why would I need your help?"

He rolled his eyes and moved closer. She zipped off the chimney and went to make her way off the roof, but he was quicker and grabbed her roughly by the arm.

"I'm taking you to Everett" and he jumped off the top of the building into the yard below, manoeuvring her inside.

He walked the halls with Ingrid in tow for a while until he saw Jonno again and came to stand next to him.

"You found her" the breather stated

"Of course I found her" Castelle stated "Where's Everett?"

Jonno looked down the hall and then back to Castelle "I thought she was behind me?"

"What do you mean you thought? You didn't check to see when you stopped?!" Ingrid hissed

"I'm here" came a voice from behind them "I'm okay"

Everett let out a breathy chuckle at their faces...and then squirted Ingrid in the face with the green plastic toy in her hand.

Ingrid did the typical face someone would make in that situation and then stared incredulously at the younger girl in front of her.

"You're going to regret that later" Ingrid said lowly

"I know. But for now, I'm gonna enjoy myself" she proved her point by squirting Ingrid three more times with the pistol "Now. You and I need to have a conversation" she stated taking Ingrid's other arm and leading her back upstairs with Jonno and Castelle following closely behind.


	26. Chapter 26

Jonno and Everett had parted ways and now Everett was making her way downstairs to the basement.  
She hadn't seen Vlad or Renfield and so figured they were probably upstairs.

There was a door ahead of her and another passage to her right that lead somewhere.

She made her way to the door. Her idea was if it was just a room, then it would be easier to just check without actually going inside.

She pushed the door open with her pistol at the ready, but found that the room was virtually empty save for a large gold framed mirror that had two golden life sized gargoyles that looked to be sleeping.

"Why would someone carve them to look like they're sleeping?" she wondered aloud

She moved further into the room to stare at her reflection.

She didn't notice when the Gargoyles awoke. They shared a look and then stared at her.

She continued to stare into the eyes of her Reflection and it her in return. Both were unmoving as they stared at each other.

Everett could hear something, a faint whisper in the back of her mind, telling her to touch the surface.  
That all her problems would melt away if she just touched it.  
She was hypnotised by the glittering surface. It seemed to shimmer from the inside out, like there was light on the other side trying to break through into the mildly lit room.

She didn't hear Renfield when he called to her.  
He'd made his appearance when Everett had entered the room, staring after her with a confused "Miss Everett?"

He jogged into the room to observe her closely and noticed she had fallen into a trance like state as she stared at herself.  
He stared at her, then the mirror, then her again. He even waved a hand in front of her face and she still didn't flinch.

"This isn't right" he told himself.

He ran from the room intent on finding, hopefully, one of the Vampires that lived under this roof.

**_"Help me. Free me. I can rid you of your troubles if you just find me"_**

**_"Touch the light. Find the light"_**

She didn't feel her arm move, didn't even think of it, she was too busy staring at the new light in the eyes of her reflection. A strange golden green light that dazzled over her sapphire blue orbs, in her reflection and in reality.

The tips of her fingers were barely touching the now rippling face of the mirror when her hand was ripped away from the reflective surface.

The Count held her face in his hands, staring her in the eye seconds before she fainted into his arms.

He pulled her head into his shoulder and directed his gaze to the staring Gargoyles.

"This one belongs to me"

He picked her up and dashed back upstairs to the Throne Room.

Vlad had thrown himself into one of the seats minutes before his father appeared in the room, carrying an unconscious Everett in his arms.

Vlad was on his feet in seconds.

"Dad, What did you do?!"

"Me! I did nothing! I found her in the Mirror Room. I think the Gargoyles were hungry" The Count said this last part off handedly and avoided the confused, sickened and over all disturbed look his son gave him.

Renfield ran into the room, panting hard.

"Master Vlad! Something strange is happening to Miss Everett in the Mirror Room!"

"We know you fool. You left me down there" The Count reminded him.

Renfield's brow scrunched in thought before he verified himself with a quiet 'oh, right'

Vlad had crouched down beside her head while The Count stood away in a position akin to 'The Thinker'

"What happened exactly? Dad you found her, can you tell me?" Vlad asked almost petrified beyond belief.  
It felt as if his unbeating heart were about to come to life and rip itself from his chest.  
A breath caught in his throat as he thought of the night he turned Erin.  
Situations such as these just seemed to be on repeat for him.

After some thinking The Count finally gave an answer.

"I don't know what happened exactly. I wasn't there in the beginning. But from what I saw, it looked like she was hypnotised. Her eyes had changed colour and were glowing and she was about to touch the mirror. The odd thing was, the mirror was reacting to her and the Gargoyles weren't intending to stop anything from happening anytime soon. As soon as I pulled her away from the mirror she fainted. I barely had any time to catch her...and she's heavy"

Vlad knew his father was just being himself now. He knew for a fact that Everett was anything but heavy.

He gently moved some hair away from her face before he moved over next to Renfield...but not too close as to inhale his scent too much.

"Renfield, what did you see?"

"Pretty much the same as The Master" Renfield answered diligently "She was standing in front of the mirror, she seemed...trance like. She didn't seem to notice that I was there. I don't think she could hear me either. She didn't acknowledge me at all really"

Vlad stared at Renfield quietly before moving back to Everett's side, caressing her face slightly.

His father watched on in slight annoyance. His son was always falling for a pretty face and a breather to boot!  
It was obvious Vlad cared for the girl, but their odd relationship said otherwise.  
The Count hoped that this was just a school boy crush.

"What was she even doing down there in the first place?" Vlad questioned

"Probably what we were doing" The Count answered "Looking for Ingrid"

Vlad made a face that read 'oh, right...'

He let his hand rest on her temple as a thought came to him and his other hand came to rest on her other temple.

"What are you doing?" his father questioned

"I'm going to read her mind"

No protests were made, but he would've continued even if there were.

He pushed himself gently into her mind, much like one of their restless nights together, and found he could barely even scratch the surface... much like one of their restless nights together.  
He pushed harder trying to break the barrier that held him back but at the same time not hard enough to break her mind. Still nothing.

There was only silence and darkness.

An idle or sleeping mind was supposed to be easier to access. So either she wasn't sleeping or she was trained enough that it couldn't be done while she was.


	27. Chapter 27

_"I'll be training Everett in her vampiric abilities" Fausta commented one morning._

_"Her mother already went over that with her" Sam said quietly from the kitchen as he made his little girl's breakfast._

_"I wasn't asking and it wasn't a suggestion" Fausta stated "Anyway, how can my daughter have gone over such things if we not even sure what abilities the girl has?"_

_"Alina already discussed this with her" He told her more forcefully as he pulled some milk from the small fridge._

_"It's one thing to talk about it" Fausta continued "It's another to actually be able to perform any sort of feat with such precision that full blooded, millennia old Vampires would be jealous"_

_The milk bottle came down with such force that it cracked and began to leak quickly over the counter._

_His voice was soft as he turned to look to her._

_ "My wife already explained and showed all vampiric abilities that she had to our daughter. From what she told me Everett is too young to even have any powers and shouldn't have any powers until she comes of age"_

_"Everett is not the same as other Vampire children" Fausta matched "She will already have some Vampiric powers and should be taught how to use them. It will give her a chance to protect herself now and later on in her life. They will continue to hunt her without fail until they know she is destroyed. Now more so that she is what she is"_

_"Well maybe you shouldn't have changed her" Sam hissed._

_"Maybe I shouldn't have, but they would kill her all the same. It would be a different result if she were a boy and would be different again if Alina had been. But you would still only have one of them" _

* * *

Alex McCauley sat in her office go over a few things that were to happen within the next three weeks.

There were a few sheets dedicated to a friendly competition between some of the schools.  
It was held every few years and this year it was to be held here, at Garside.

She'd informed Mr Count about it months in advance but, more than likely, he'd forgotten...more likely, he hadn't been listening in the first place.

As the principal, she had the chance to decide what the competition would involve.

When she found out that it was to be her school, she knew instantly what she would do.  
Well technically she'd planned months in advance, but when she heard Everett playing the other week she had done all she could to change the schedule...and to much success.

There was a knock on the door and she rubbed her straining eyes in relief, thankful for the distraction.

"Yes"

Roberto Bertolini, who had returned from an unsuccessful sabbatical, poked his head in.

"Alex, there's someone out here who claims to be a new student. I found her wandering around the halls. Were you expecting her?"

McCauley sat in thought for a moment.

She vaguely remembered something about a student but couldn't really put her finger on it.

"Maybe. I think I'm just forgetful these days" she said as she rubbed her eyes again "Send her in"

Bertolini gave a nod and indicated to someone she couldn't see behind him.

A dark blonde with dark, purple-blue coloured eyes entered the office, thanking the male teacher with soft dark tones before he left the room.

"I must apologise. I think I was expecting you but I can't quite recall. I've been busy lately, I don't even know when I last ate" the older of the two stated with a short laugh.

"That's fine. I would expect no less from the principal of such a refined school as yours" the girl said with an assumed smile, her voice light but somewhat bored.

McCauley's own smile slipped from her face and she cleared her throat as she moved to sit again.  
The other in the room remained standing, despite being asked to sit.

"Are you new around the town?" McCauley asked, trying to make a friendly start.

"Yes and no. I came here a long time ago but then moved away again"

"Oh. So where were you born?" McCauley began shuffling the papers on her desk looking for something that related to a new student.

"I don't remember, I've moved around alot. But I do know it was hot as anything alot of the time" the girl answered.

McCauley stood from her seat and moved to the filing cabinet, still looking for something relating to this strange new person.  
She took another few minutes searching before directing a question to the girl.

"I can't seem to find you file. What did you say your name was?"

"I didn't" the girl answered shortly.

The girl moved next to the principal.  
The older woman giving a shudder at the controlled derangement that swam in the girls strangely coloured eyes.  
And she couldn't look away.

"My name is Marella Dreq"

* * *

There was a bang as Vlad brought his fist down on the Dining Table situated in the room.

He'd been trying to access Everett's mind for a good eight minutes now and still nothing but blankness.  
He didn't know what else he could do.

* * *

Marella Dreq had finished her meeting with Alexandra McCauley and had had the door closed behind her by the woman.

She inhaled deeply, smelling the air looking for a familiar scent and she caught it quickly, it was all over the place and seemed to become stronger the closer she got to the stairs.

Seeing as no-one was about she simply clicked her fingers and disappeared from the main hall, reappearing in another hall on one of the upper levels.

The scent was definitely stronger up here.

* * *

Everett closed the door after Jonno and turned to face the others in the room, a somewhat sweet smile on her face.

"What did you want to talk about?" Ingrid asked. She was on edge because of that smile on the others face. It unnerved her because she'd never seen it before and looked out of place.

"It's nothing really, I just needed to get you back to my room before anyone else found you" the other girl answered.

Ingrid looked around her and then returned her suspicious gaze to Everett, her fangs dropping.

"There's just one thing. This is my room"

Everett looked about the room idly.

"Oh. What a mistake, it's so her style"

Her skin rippled and shifted something similar to Mystique from X-Men.  
When it stopped a man stood before them, a typical 'tall, dark and handsome' type, with two small horns erupting from either side of his forehead just above his temples.

He was dressed in a dark grey suit and a black tie.

The two Vamps hissed at this new comer and Jonno pulled out his gun again.

"I wouldn't bother. It'll have no effect on me" the male said his voice so dark and suave that it could put Count Dracula's to shame.

"If it'll slow you down it's worth a shot" Jonno snapped at him

"Who are you and what are you doing in my home?!" Ingrid spat

"I'm here on a job and I can't have any of you interfering" he stated as he pulled out a long, thin, cylindrical object from inside his coat pocket, twirling it in his fingers expertly.

It came to a stop in his palm and with a rough **_'shing' _**a silver spike slid out quickly from inside the cylinder.

"Where's Everett Ainsley?"


	28. Chapter 28

**I apologise for the long delay.**

**It seems I've finally broken through my writers block, but I've not yet finished writing the actual story in the Doc.  
So, I've decided to try and update this particular story monthly rather than keep you waiting like that again.**

**I'm posting snippets of what I'm working on, on my profile page, so you can keep up with everything that's going on in my mind.**

**I hope you all enjoy this chapter and, again, I apologise for the delay.**

**R**

* * *

Everett was in a world of darkness. Every which way she turned there was nothing but blackness.

There was a hum above and around her that only got louder. She spun in circles trying to find which direction it may be coming from.

As the hum became louder and clearer it formulated a word

**_"Angel"_**

It echoed around her in the darkness and she stopped.

She hadn't heard that word in a long time.  
It brought back to her such comforting moments that the darkness started to become almost friendly.

* * *

"What do you want with Everett?" Ingrid asked quietly

"I'm the one with the stake, so I'll be the one asking questions" the daemon said darkly

"But you're in **MY** home so I deserve a few answers!" she hissed back

He sighed, annoyed and glared at her evenly.

* * *

Marella moved silently up the stairs until she was standing in a grim and dusty looking hall.

_'The smell is strongest up here. Could this be where she's hiding? In a school? That doesn't seem like her'_

* * *

**_"Angel"_**

A faded apparition appeared before Everett's eyes. Though it had no definitive shape...or face for that matter...it was tall and Everett could see clear enough that it was humanesque...despite how see-through it was.

**_"You cannot continue to hold back sweet angel. You must let go and embrace your being entirely. I would not have guided you here if I did not think you would be protected. You must learn to trust. Trust yourself. Trust others"_**

The being held out what would have been hands to her.

**_"You do not belong in this darkness. Let me take you back to the land of Light"_**

"But I don't belong in the Light either" Everett told it.

It seemed to smile down at her and gave a hint of a laugh **_"Very well then. I will return you to wherever you wish, you need only say where. But first things first, you must listen to me carefully_**"

* * *

"Vlad"

It was a soft whisper, the perfect volume for Vampiric ears.

The Count had heard and watched as his son flitted over to the girl's side.

"I'm here" Vlad said quietly as he picked up her hand.

The Count felt that this was all a little too familiar and he didn't like it.

"Angel"

His eyes snapped to the girls face.

_'That's an unusual thing to say'_

He continued to watch on unmoving, even when her eyes snapped open and she bolted into a sitting position almost head butting his son.

Vlad couldn't help it when he grabbed her face that much was obvious, as was his relief.

And she obviously couldn't help it when she tackled him into a hug, knocking him onto his posterior. She held him at arms length for a moment before she muttered something and was on her feet.

Vlad grabbed her arm before she could run off.

"What about Ingrid? Did she do something to you? I'll kill her!" he growled out.

The Count was impressed by his son's change of demeanour. He was finally embracing his Vampire side.

"Ingrid did nothing. But something's wrong, I can feel it. I think she might be in trouble"

She ripped her arm from his grip and ran out into the hall.

* * *

Marella nearly tripped over a dog lying in the middle of the hall.  
It growled some but she shushed it gently and, with a gloved hand, gave it a scratch on its neck to comfort it. It worked and she stepped over it.

It followed her a little ways down the hall to a door and she stopped.  
She'd found the source.

"Stay" she said quietly

She braced herself and threw open the door, letting it close behind her and gaining the attention of all in the room.

Her arm snaked behind her and pulled a long, jagged, ritualistic looking knife.

"Rohan. Long tempore non videre" she stated casually.

"Marella"

"Marella?" Ingrid questioned disbelievingly

"What are you doing here?" Marella questioned the daemon.

"That's my own business" he hissed lowly

"It becomes my business when I find out the High Council employs you" she said as-a-matter-of-factly.

"The High Council?" Jonno was becoming hysterical. Vampires were one thing but this was a whole new level of distressing.

Ingrid snapped her fingers and he became still, gun still pointed at the ready.

"Not the smartest thing to do Ingrid" Marella stated a little annoyed

"What are you even doing here?!" Ingrid spoke back

"Saving your ass!"

"Enough! Where is the girl? And don't try anything Dracula, because I know you're at half power" Rohan placed the point of his silver stake underneath her chin, almost as if to prove his point...which he hadn't made yet.

"You're not the one in control here" Marella spoke up

"And if you don't shut up, I'll put this through her dainty neck" he said with a sickening smile "It might not kill her but her blood would be useful to me"

"You won't leave here alive if you do. My brother will rip you apart" Ingrid hissed

"It must be such an imagination you have to think he would care about you enough"

"It's nothing to do with me" Ingrid assured him.

"Her family will figure out what's going on anyway Rohan" Marella told him

"They may" he stated "But they won't be able to do anything about it" His smile worsened

Castelle readied himself to attack. Obviously it was no longer his job to protect the Принцесса

* * *

She hit a wall.

Well, an invisible wall. That's when she knew things definitely were not right.

She'd been hoping it was all her imagination, that she was being be melodramatic...but her intuition had never failed her before.

She gently touched the barrier and a ripple of energy moved outward and away from her touch.

"What's Ingrid got to do withal this?" she heard Vlad call behind her.

She groaned and rolled her eyes "That's not the bigger problem here Vlad!"

"And what is?!"

She slammed her hands on the barricade, sending ripples of energy that fanned across the walls.

"That is!" she told him, turning toward him "Something's wrong and I think may be my fault"

"Your fault how?"

"Now's not the time! I **know** Ingrid's in trouble! On top of that Jonno's with her and before you ask, no, he's not the reason she is. COUNT! GET YOUR UNDEAD BUTT OUT HERE!"

Vlad had never heard anyone call for his dad quite like she did just then. She was scared and angry...he made a side note not to get in her way if she was like this again at a later date.

There was thunder, lightning and echoing words "**INCOLENCE!** You dare order me!"

Vlad let his face fall into his hands. The Count was so overly dramatic...

"Yes!"

...And Everett would butt heads with anyone!

The Count stared at her through disapproving narrowed eyes in the doorway and she returned the look.

"Bigger problems at hand than our strange relationship" she stated icily, slamming the side of her fist into the barrier again.

The Count watched the ripples fan and then hissed loudly "Daemons!"

"How long since you encountered one?"

"Too long" he growled

Everett hummed and moved away from the wall "So, what d'you wanna do about it?"

The Count grinned maliciously "I have just the thing"

He gestured them all back into the main room, shutting the door when they were all in.

* * *

****_(I couldn't get the accent above some of the letters to appear in my Document, but what I've said here is what I was meaning)_****

_Long tempore non videre_ \- Long time, no see

_Принцесса_ \- Princess


	29. Chapter 29

**(Music – The Afters – We Won't Give Up)**

**(Music Start)**

With neither a sound or an indication, Castelle slammed Ingrid out of the way with his shoulder, sending her into Jonno and both of them to the ground, Jonno being knocked out of his frozen hypnotic state.

A solitary drop of amber coloured blood dripped across the underside of Ingrid's chin, but she didn't notice.  
Castelle took hold of the Daemons arm and snapped it backwards. There was what sounded like a thousand sickening cracks as he completely destroyed dark and handsomes shoulder

"That was a stupid thing to do Blood Sucker" Rohan berated lowly.

"I pledged my life to the Принцесса" Castelle stated "I'm not about to let anything happen to her now"

Rohan bent at the waist holding his now completely useless arm, giggling maniacally.

"A touching display, but contrary to popular belief, I will have her..."

He bent lower and used momentum to throw his arm out. There was a single loud crack, like thunder in the small silent room.  
He now stood at his full height, holding his arm out to the side at the shoulder.

"And I hate having to do that. It hurts" he growled.

Behind him, Marella took the chance to slice his back open.

* * *

Back outside the room, and with their amplified hearing, there was a pained scream followed by a growling roar. Everyone heard the roar, no doubt everyone downstairs too

Everything in the Throne Room came to a grinding halt.

"What was that?" Renfield asked in a shaky voice.

The door creaked open and the four of them watched Wolfie squeeze through the gap and dash under the nearest piece of furniture he could fit under.

"There must be someone in there that's putting up a fight" The Count said.

Everett gasped and yelled an unfamiliar name "Castelle!"

She made a break for the door, but The Count was quicker.  
When he spoke, his tone was deadly sweet.

"May I ask, who or what is _'Castelle'_?"

Everett gulped. She hadn't meant to say that out loud or with such volume.

"He's...my protector" she said quietly "He found me this morning"

They stared each other down, her nervous, flittering eyes against scathing, unwavering gaze. Eventually he sighed exasperatedly.

"Why didn't you say so earlier? We may just have more time now!" he said loudly, making a dash for one of the book shelves.

"What exactly are you looking for?" Vlad asked as he watched his father throw a book over his shoulder.

"There is no way to completely kill daemon, they just hunt you down and kill you quicker. And don't make the mistake of comparing them to us. We have far more class than those monsters" The Count said as he threw another three books behind him.  
One narrowly missing Everett's face, but only because Vlad pulled her out of the way in time.

He stared down at her, hurt evident in his eyes. She sent him a confused one. She didn't understand what reason he had to be hurt.

"There is a spell that can send a daemon back to where he came from" she heard The Count say, as there was the sound of another book being tossed and landing on the wood floor.

She turned her confused gaze to the book that had just landed at her feet and bent down to pick it up.

"Exul Daemon" she stated, letting her fingers gently brush the cover. It was a Latin Spell Book, the same version her Grandmother had passed down to her...one that she'd lost during the destruction of _'The Bite Club'._

"Oh, you've heard of it then?" Renfield chattered pleasantly.

She held up the book "It's in here"

Renfield 'Oh'ed happily, grabbed the book off her and started to flick through the pages but stopped hesitantly when he found he couldn't read any of it.

"Master, it's all in jibberish"

The Count pulled the book from his servants hands vigorously and thumbed through the pages himself.

"It's in Latin you idiot" he said scathingly.

"Well, you can read it, can't you?" Vlad asked as he took his turn with the book, his brows furrowing in annoyance.

"It's been a long time" The Count replied awkwardly.

Everett pursed her lips at her own annoyance and cleared her throat loudly.  
She watched as something seemed to slowly click in their minds. She held her hand out for the book and Vlad handed it to her.

"Renfield, I'll need you for this"

* * *

Marella Dreq now stood pinned to the wall Glaring at the opposing daemon.  
When she'd sliced his back open, he'd turned to her and nearly, quite literally, taken her head off. She'd been lucky enough to see it coming and ducked in time. She hadn't been quick enough to see the silver stake as it pierced her stomach and attached her to the wall.  
Sliver was unhealthy for a Daemon's system, she could feel it searing her insides now. She would be dead within minutes.

The Vampire who had attacked lay on the other side of the coffin, dark amber coloured blood oozing from the claws that had sliced open his chest and beating heart.  
This was the work of Everett Ainsley, she knew it. She'd seen a few scenes like this before, ones that had really shocked the Slayers. He would be dust in a few hours.

"I am **done** playing games!" Rohan said loudly "Where is Everett Ainsley?!"

The two in the corner looked at him fearfully. The Slayer behind Ingrid, put on his brave face and raised his gun, which trembled in his hand slightly.  
Ingrid grabbed his hand and pulled it down.

"Don't" she whispered "No doubt the others heard something. They're probably on their way now"

"That's a lot of hope for someone such as you" Rohan hissed.

Ingrid turned her darkening gaze to the male daemon "I'm entitled to a small amount. Besides, how would we know where Everett is? She probably knows you're here and took off running"

There was a loud sizzling sound outside the door.  
There was a creak of floor boards, which stopped outside the door. Rohan carefully and silently stepped toward the door. His hand gently touched the knob, he turned it quickly and threw the door open.  
There was nothing but air on the other side. He stepped carefully into the door frame staring out into the hall, his dark coloured eyes scanning the now darkened surroundings. His eyes glowed an electric blue as the dark became light to his vision only. He could still see nothing.  
One foot stepped back and he felt his heel touch something. He didn't have a chance to turn or react when he felt himself being shoved out the door and into the opposite wall.  
The door slammed closed as he fell backwards onto the floor.

"Who do you think you are to sneak into my home and come after my family?" came a voice from the wall.

Rohan opened his eyes and looked to see an older Vampire gentleman leaning against the wall staring down at him with an angry sneer.  
The Vampire Gentleman quickly dashed to him and picked him up by his coat collar.

"I don't know what you may have heard about me, but I am not one for uninvited guests"

Rohan was thrown forcefully backwards again, this time further down the hall and into another room where there was another young male Vamp, a grubby, foul smelling male human and the object of his 'affections', standing and staring down at him from the other end of a long table.

As the older Vampire strode into the room a voice yelled up the hall.

"Dad! He's after Everett!"

Rohan picked himself up off the floor and watched as the younger vampire pushed Ainsley behind him to shield her.

"So you're Count Dracula" Rohan said with a sick smile "And this must be your son"

"Vlad, look after her" his father told him with a stern gaze to Rohan

Rohan leaned on the table watching the three at the other end. Vlad hissed and bared his fangs at the intruder.

"Are we gonna be playing the hard game, or are we gonna make this easy?" Rohan said lowly.

Vlad hissed again.

"Hard game it is" Rohan flipped the table, sending it crashing into the wall.

Renfield and Vlad stared wide eyed at the destruction that lay underneath the long heavy table. Vlad pulled Everett close and flashed out of the room, slamming the door closed behind him, leaving Master and servant to fend for themselves.

Everything was alright, provided they could push the Daemon into their trap.

**(End Music)**


	30. Chapter 30

_"Ingrid" _came the feeble call.

Ingrid hurriedly made her way over to her old friend on the wall and started trying to pull the silver stake from Marella's gut, but to no avail.  
Jonno stood and stared down at the body of Castelle. He crouched, placed a few fingers to the body's neck and felt nothing. He watched carefully but could see no hint of breath.

Everett was going to break.  
In the few hours Jonno had known him, he had to admit that Castelle had been a genuinely nice, one of a kind guy. Something Vampires weren't.

He actually felt grief creeping through him.

"I can't get this thing out! Jonno, help me!" Ingrid pleaded.

Jonno stepped around the body of Castelle and made his way over to her.  
Both of them wrapped their hands around the stake and pulled, but the object wouldn't let itself be freed from the wall.

There was a blur as Vlad entered with Everett and quickly and quietly shut the door.

"Are you both alright?" Vlad questioned.

Ingrid nodded a _'yes'_

"But, I can't get this stupid thing off the wall!" she peeved, indicating to Marella.

Vlad stared "Probably better to leave it there then"

"We would but she helped us and fought the other guy off for a bit" Jonno answered, letting attention turn to him.

He and Vlad stared each other down a little, though out of acknowledgement and friction than anything.

"Where's Castelle?" came Everett's shaking voice.

A distressing silence filled the small room and Ingrid and Jonno shared a subtle look that didn't go unnoticed.

Ingrid's eyes flicked to her bed grimly, knowing what was on the other side. She watched as her friend made her way around and watched as Jonno followed her, taking hold of Everett as she cringed and began to collapse in her heartbreaking shock.  
Ingrid watched an alarmed Vlad move around beside the other two and stare at the massacre that was now Castelle _'The Protector'_

"I thought you said he was a Vampire?" Vlad's question floated to all those in the room, though his inquiry had been meant for Everett.

"He was on-" Jonno began, but he trailed off, not really sure how to continue.

"Amber Veri" Ingrid finished.

Vlad looked to his sister, a hint of anger in his eyes "What?"

"He was on a drug that enabled him to be something somewhat human for a period of time" Everett said, still hanging limply in Jonno's arms and staring at the mangled corpse of her former protector, salty yellow tears starting to drip down her cheeks.  
Jonno turned her away and sat her on the lid of Ingrid's coffin as Ingrid herself called her brothers attention.

"I can't pull the stake from the wall. Vlad, please, help me. Marella is my friend and she's going to die if that thing isn't taken out of her. Don't let there be another death today"

Vlad glared at his sister and dashed to the wall, pulling the stake out in one fluid movement.  
Marella dropped to the floor with a pained yell.  
Ingrid stared to her brother appreciatively and uttered a small _'thankyou'_ before attending to her other friend.

Vlad stood between the four.

"After all this is over, we're all having a serious discussion. You two!" he pointed to Marella and Jonno "Are not leaving this building until I know everything!"

He threw down the stake and removed himself from the room.

* * *

Renfield dove to place his now enchanted saucepan in the circle of nick-knacks he had collected specifically for the spell.  
The daemon, who was now sitting in the circle thanks to his master, stared around him.

"This is embarrassing" he commented lamely "Couldn't you have found better things to use?"

"Well, you didn't exactly give us the time so we had to use what we could find" Renfield told him straight as he picked himself up. He smiled widely to himself when he realised he'd rhymed. The smallest things could entertain him.

"Stop yapping and let's get this over with!" The Count snipped, cradling a rather nasty bump to the head he'd obtained during the fight.

Turned out, he and the daemon were well matched. They were both just as strong and just as fast as each other.  
The Count had only just managed to throw the daemon off him and into the circle...he was only really looking to throw it off him and so wasn't really aiming for the circle. But, it was nice when things just fell into place.

The daemon stood and made to get out of the circle but was shocked as soon as his foot touched the invisible barrier. A smell of burning leather began to drift through the room and all there observed the small waft of smoke that rose from the toe of the daemons shoe.

"Embarrassing, but effective" the daemon remarked, staring at his shoe disdainfully.

"Well, as long as it's effective" The Count sneered "Renfield, the book"

Renfield picked out the book from his coat pocket and opened to the marked page before handing it to his Mater.  
The Count began to read aloud

"Vade daemon! Donec igneos puteos revertens in conspectu meo, in qua vos peregrinamini"

There was a sound, like acid water being sucked down a drain as it corroded the metal of the pipe...so, in other words, a hissing sucking sound.  
They watched as the daemons legs seemed to stretch through the floor while the rest of his body stayed in place and then suddenly followed his legs, snapping like rubber through the floor and disappearing from sight with a yell.

The Count and his servant stared for a moment at the spot where the daemon had once stood.

"That looked rather painful" Renfield eventually said

"It sounded like it" The Count agreed.

They shared a look and burst into happy fits of laughter.

"We did it!" The Count yelled happily "We did it!"

"Well done" he heard his son say casually from the doorway. His happiness subsided.

"Is the girl alright?"

"She's fine. So is Ingrid...and Jonno...and another that was pinned to the wall" Vlad replied looking rather annoyed.

"What? A Van Helsing is here?!" the Count hissed "And what do you mean _'another that was pinned to the wall'_?!"

Vlad shrugged "Apparently, Ingrid made another friend and that friend was trying to protect them and ended up pinned to the wall by a stake. But that's not the worst of it"

The Count grimaced. The tone of his son's voice told him he **wasn't **happy and that there would be no real good news to come.

"So, what is the worst of it?" he finally asked

Vlad stayed silent for a moment, staring intently at his father "There's a body"

The Count stared at Vlad with wide eyes.

"What do you mean there's a body?!" he hissed, advancing on his son and taking a hold of his shirt with both hands when he was close enough.  
Vlad glared at his father with annoyance, removing his father's hands from his persons with a strong grip.

"Everett's protector was killed" he answered uninterested.

"You mean he was dusted? Oh, Vlad you had me worried there for a second" The Count said with relief, not quite picking up the information entirely.

"No, dad, he wasn't dusted! There was a drug in his system that did something to his Vampiric abilities. He was all but mauled to death. He's lying in Ingrid's room how, still bleeding out!"

The Count stared at him like he was mad "A drug?"

"They all seem to know about it, so I'm going to question them all later and hopefully get it off the streets"

His father nodded, but couldn't help thinking _'What's so wrong with having a little fun?'_

* * *

****_(I couldn't get the accent above some of the letters to appear in my Document, but what I've said here is what I was meaning)_****

"Vade daemon! Donec igneos puteos revertens in conspectu meo, in qua vos peregrinamini" - _"Go on the devil! Donec of fire, the wells of water, and return unto my sight, in which you are strangers" _

**This is the translation on Google Translate...I know doesn't make sense.  
Unfortunatly I can't remember exactly what it was that I was meaning, but basically Rohan was being forcibly sent home...in a more poetic sense.  
The word _Donec_ means _Until._ So, maybe something like;  
_"Go until you reach the pits of Hell!"  
_I dunno.**

**R**


	31. Chapter 31

Ingrid sat Marella against the heavy coffin with some help from Jonno. Everett was leaned against the wall watching them struggle.  
No one dared berate her for her minimal actions for fear of upsetting her further.  
She stared at Marella, who watched her in return.

"Been a long time kid" Marella finally spoke.

Everett nodded, but said nothing.

"Do you two know each other?" Jonno asked, turning to Everett.

"We've crossed paths on occasion. Last I saw her she'd just celebrated her thirteenth birthday" Marella answered him

"You haven't changed" Everett directed

"You've grown" Marella commented.

* * *

_(Eleven Years Ago)_

_Everett sat on the roof of her family's hide out in Paris. Tomorrow would be her tenth birthday and she would be spending it, in her opinion, in one of the most beautiful cities of the world. She loved the lights...at night. Right now it was the middle of the day and no doubt her parents would be wondering where she ended up.  
She always had a knack for climbing and she would always be berated for it. The only problem for young Everett was coming down, she like her mother could never land on her feet, but if it meant she would miss out on a view like the one she had now, she could deal with sore feet for a while._

_If she had her way, she would never come down again._

_The silence she had become accustomed to over these few minutes was broken by someone behind her._

_"Interesting, you're not afraid of falling. And yet, the thing I can't quite understand is, how you got up here in the first place"_

_Everett turned carefully and saw behind her and saw a girl, maybe about seventeen or eighteen years of age, wearing black shorts and boots along with a black short sleeved hoodie, left open showing a white t-shirt underneath.  
The only noticeable thing about her features was the dark blonde fringe peeking out from under the hood and the strange odd coloured eyes; one a dark blue almost purple and the other a strange hue of brown that could almost have been red._

_Everett considered the newcomer for a moment before turning away again._

_"Carefully"_

* * *

The rest of the day went by quietly.

Everett was in a daze and payed no mind to anything else.  
McCauley found her walking down one of the halls looking like the dead come to life. The poor principal would never know how, mildly, ironic that sounded to the girl.  
McCauley asked her something and she just nodded as she slowly shuffled her way further down the hall.

Ingrid stayed with her the rest of the day after that and after Jonno returned to Slayer Headquarters. Though, she wasn't to know that.  
Ingrid and her sat together at the bar of the Blood Bank, bottles lined up in front of them, each bottle becoming emptier as the minutes ticked by.  
The bar began to fill up around them with the casuals and, eventually, Daniel turned up to start his shift. Ingrid quietly explained to him what had happened and for the rest of the night he kept refilling their glasses.

Ingrid was starting to worry about Marella too. Vlad had been enraged after he'd talked to Jonno and Jonno hadn't told them what they'd talked about, instead choosing to leave shortly after that.  
God only knew what Vlad was asking the female daemon-hybrid.

_'She'll heal quick, she always could'_ Ingrid thought. Though, she found she couldn't really convince herself.  
Silver was a hard thing to heal over quickly for Daemons. She found it surprising that the male daemon could even hold it without being burned.

She was worried to face the wrath of her little brother and she was scared for how Everett would react to questioning.  
It seemed Vlad was already mad at Everett for not telling him about Castelle or being friends with Jonno, but that, Ingrid may say, could've been pinned down to jealousy.

"Friends! Old and new" she heard Daniel call from behind the bar. The room fell quiet as every eye turned to him.

"Today, we lost a friend and fellow child of the night"

Ingrid looked up at her father as he sat down with them, Renfield standing by his Masters side.

"To some of you; he was friend. To others; a force to be reckoned with" Daniel said with a smile, remembering his first encounter with the big man.  
Others in the room tittered along with him while the rest remained silent.

"To Everett Ainsley; he was the last of her family. To her I say; he is not far and he will always be remembered" Daniel raised his glass "May he rest well"

Ingrid was surprised to see all the vamps in the vicinity raise their glasses, whether out of respect to Everett, or in memory of Castelle.

Everett stood this time and quiet suddenly too, her chair sliding loudly along the floor, gaining all attention. She remained quiet a moment, to which point Ingrid thought she was going to run from the room. But eventually, she looked to those around her and spoke to them.

"Daniel's right. To those who knew him, he was Castelle. But, I think you should, that to those who knew him well...he was Evgeni Pishchalnikov, last Dark Tsar of Russia"

Ingrid heard her father gasp quietly.

"The Russian Royal Line...is ended, and that is unfortunate. But it was ended with a good man, who sacrificed himself...for strangers, friends and family"

Everett raised her glass high "I say we celebrate him and everything he was. Who's with me?"

There was an agreed cheer from the crowd.

"Yра" Everett encouraged.

There was a unanimous **_'Yра' _**from the crowd of vampires that even the two Dracula's and Renfield joined in.

"Free drinks on the house" Everett muttered evenly, directing a look to Daniel.

Vlad remained by the door quietly observing and deciding he would let Everett grieve in peace.

* * *

_**(I couldn't get the accent above some of the letters to appear in my Document, but what I've said here is what I was meaning)**_

**_Ypa - Cheers_**


	32. Chapter 32

Everett entered her room still slightly sober...or what could've passed as slightly sober.  
She flopped heavily onto her couch, surprisingly upright.

"What're you doin' in here?" she asked and turned to look at Marella who was sat beside her.

"I thought you were still healing"

"I still am" the other replied, turning her odd coloured eyes to the other and letting her head fall gently onto the wall behind.

"Then why **are** you here?"

"Because I haven't seen you in four years, and I know Castelle, though he had his ways, **was** really the last of your family" Marella said gravely.

"You didn't know him" Everett snapped glumly

"I know you"

Everett sighed and looked away again, remaining quiet.  
She wondered if now was the right time to be rhetorical and ask _'Why?'_  
Marella seemed to read her mind.

"He saved Ingrid and that Slayer boy and gave me the chance to fight alongside him, against Rohan" The daemon girl said

There was another quiet moment until the blonde girl spoke again

"If it's any consolation, you seemed to have made a sister in Ingrid. That's a hard thing to do"

"How do you know?" Everett asked in monotone, wanting a change of conversation

"I first met Ingrid in a little town called Stokely about a year and a half ago. It was a dark time in her life...and I think at one point I only made it worse" Marella didn't exaggerate on that particular point

"Anyway, I stayed with her for about eight months, then I heard tale of something. A little drug on the Vampire Streets"

Marella gave the other girl a sideways glance.

"Made yourself a little too obvious" She commented "You know I helped your father making that"

Everett hummed nonchalantly.  
The room fell quiet again, neither of them knowing what to say. Eventually, Everett spoke up.

"I think you're right about my relationship with Ingrid. Actually, I think it may have, unintentionally, been said aloud at one time"

"_Family isn't always blood-_" Marella threw out

"_-Family is bond" _Everett lay her head on the Daemons shoulder "I suppose that means you're my sister too"

"If that's the case, then sisters need to stick together"

* * *

Ingrid found the two girls the next morning lying next to each other awkwardly on the small couch.  
She shook Everett gently, only to be grabbed by a hand.  
She looked up in alarm to Marella.  
Marella shook her head and breathed out in relief.

"Ingrid! Don't scare a sleeping daemon like that"

"Sorry" Ingrid spoke softly "but there's something Everett needs to see"

* * *

"What the he- Ow!"

"You know you don't say that word in front of me" Marella berated the younger girl, after hitting her upside the head.

"Alright, jeez, but what's this all about and why is my name on it?!" Everett asked, turning to Ingrid

"Apparently, you agreed to compete in this School's Competition" Ingrid informed

Everett ripped the, rather large, poster off the wall in annoyance. Leaving the tapped corners attached to the wall.

"And you won't believe who the other school is" Ingrid continued

Everett showed Marella what was written and the daemon could only make a noise like a tortured frog.

"Didn't you say last night that you'd stayed there with Ingrid?" Everett asked

"This may not be a good thing" Marella stated nervously, sending Ingrid a tense look.

* * *

"What's this I hear about Stokely coming to Garside?" Vlad questioned loudly as he entered his father's Throne Room.

He was not happy, and his father could tell. The Count himself wasn't all that happy about it either...though he could actually remember McCauley saying something about a competition not too long ago. Even he was able to join the dots here.  
He put on a false face and silently preyed that Renfield wouldn't walk in.

"What, what, what?"

"Don't lie to me dad! I've had my fill of secrets and lies" Vlad stated lowly

"I'm not lying" The Count defended smoothly "I honestly don't know what you're talking about"

"Then explain** this**!" Marella said as she walked through the door, followed by Everett and Ingrid. She held between her fingers a large poster, ripped at the corners, that read;

_"Annual Friendly Schools Challenge, June 21st at Garside Grange, the competing schools; Garside Grange and Stokely Grammar, representative of Garside Grange; Everett Ainsley, in a battle of musical talents"_

The Count stared at the offensive poster, willing it to burn into nothing and thinking _'Worse than Renfield!'_

"_'A battle of musical talents'_, I wouldn't think you were musically inclined" He said snidely, hoping that would somehow hide his onset depression.

"You're not getting involved and Stokely is not coming here" Vlad directed between his father and Everett.

"Well, I believe that's something we can all agree on" the She-Daemon said

"And I believe Everett can talk for herself" Vlad spat harshly, obviously still not liking the girl "Though this time, she **has** to listen!"

Ingrid dashed in front of her brother "And who says we have to do everything **you** say?"  
She bore her fangs in a snarl that he returned, only to be pulled away by Marella.

"You may not have to do as he says, but while you're under my roof...you will do as **I** say" The Count interjected.

"Well, he doesn't have to be rude" Ingrid grumbled

There was an unpleasant silence in the room as three sets of eyes took note of the way Vlad's stern gaze tried to dig its way into Everett's very being.  
They also noted how Everett wouldn't meet his eye and continued to be interested in a particularly dusty corner of the room.

"I still have questions for you" Vlad finally said to her, his tone softer than it had been before "But they can wait as we have more pressing issues to deal with"

He turned back to his father "The Challenge is three weeks away. That's plenty of time to stop it from happening. But I suggest **you** do something **_now_**!"

With that he flashed out of the room, leaving it to silence once more and The Count pouting in aggravation at his new role in all this.  
Eventually, he spoke up.

"I suppose I should leave as well" he said evenly, making to stand "I should go and talk with Miss McCauley. I'll make up an excuse for you too, Everett, while I'm at it"

As he was about to walk out Everett finally spoke  
"Wait! I'll do it"

"What?!" to say he was shocked would've been an understatement

"I'll do it" she repeated "You lot can hide up here if you want, but right now, I'm feeling kinda malicious. I really wanna piss him off!"

Ingrid turned on the girl harshly

"We've already had to deal with an outside attack only a **few days ago**!" she spat "Who knows what could happen at this thing! And I don't particularly want to see anyone from that **_wretched_** little town **again**!"

Everett's words were calm when she spoke again "Well, like I said, you lot can stay up here and keep out of sight. I'm doing this, whether or not you like or approve"

No one said anything, all they did was stare and gape at the brunette. Letting her have her moment.

Inside, though The Count would never admit, he was proud, annoyed and a little scared.  
Vlad could get angry and that was frighting enough at the best of times, but with girls...you never knew what was going to happen!  
This was an explosion waiting to happen! A ticking time bomb with no off mechanism!  
He realised he was being over dramatic...but the circumstances called for it!


	33. Chapter 33

"I have to say first off Miss McCauley, I don't actually remember you asking me to take part in all this"

It was true, with everything that had happened Everett could hardly remember even feeling anything since Castelle's death.  
And with all the problems going on between her and Vlad now, she was, _possibly_, starting to feel something **only _now_**. Still, it was only a dull throb of feeling.

But she had a plan. She'd discussed it with Marella the previous night, but there had been a few factors that had needed to be sorted. Now they were.  
She had to explain everything to the Daemon again and so now everything was back on track.

"That's alright Everett. I could see you were out of sorts at the time. Was it something you wanted to talk about?" the principal asked softly.

Everett shook her head quickly.

No, she didn't want to talk about it.  
No, she didn't want to hear any more questions about it.  
Just. No.

She wanted to say what she came here to say and then leave.

"Actually, Mister Count and Vlad thought it wouldn't be the best idea for me to compete in this competition, I guess they still consider me the new girl or something. But, I'm here to say that I would be happy to"

"Oh, that's fantastic to know Everett, but, you didn't really have a choice in the matter" McCauley spoke quickly.

At Everett's look of confusion the principal continued "I'm **making** you do this after catching you playing violin those few months ago"

"I thought you just wanted me to tutor kids?"

"Well, yes, but I suppose that was more a form of punishment. This is your chance to make amends for your actions" McCauley replied as she lay her arms along her desk, knitting her fingers together and leaning over them.

Everett chuckled "You're sneaky clever. I like it"  
It took her a few seconds to realise she'd said that out loud.

"Sorry"

Principal McCauley sent her an, outward, look of disapproval, though her eyes glimmered with amusement.  
Everett gave an awkward cough "There's something else you should know, I haven't told anyone else because problems may arise"

"Everett, are you in some sort of trouble?" McCauley asked, her voice laced with concern.

Everett paused for a second then sighed "It's not something you need to concern yourself with. Not anymore anyway"

The principals eyes furrowed "What do you mean?"

"I mean, at the end of all this, I'll be leaving Garside Grange"

* * *

"What do you mean you're doing it?!" Vlad screamed in her face

He hadn't been to happy when his father had told him what had been said after he'd left the Throne Room earlier.  
Everett stared back at him unmoving.

"It's just a stupid school competition. We don't even get anything out of it. What's the problem?"

He stared at her, eyes wide and ablaze, the wheels in his head turning.  
What **was** the problem? Why was he so adamant that she_** not**_ do this?

"You can't even think of a reason, can you?" she stated "Look, I know your family has a history with Stokely, and I don't want to know the details, but this would've happened whether or not you liked it. I've already told Ingrid and The Count that they could hide up here until it was all over, you can do the same"

"I shouldn't have to do the same!"

"Well, you're gonna have to!"

He growled, his fangs showing. She slapped him. **H****ard**.

"Don't you bare your fangs at me!" she spat, pointing an accusing finger in his face.

He blinked down at her, cradling his stinging cheek "You just slapped me!"

"Aw. **No duh**! Big baby"

He growled again "If that's the case! While we're on speaking terms, maybe you'd care to tell me everything you know about _'__Amber Veri'_"

"I know **nothing** about it! Nothing you wanna know anyway" she insisted "But owning a club in the Vampire World, you tend to see and hear things"

"What things? What **do** you know?"

Everett sighed exasperatedly "All I know is it has a chemical that can turn Vampires into half human hybrids for a time, depending on how much they take"

"Do you know the supplier?" Vlad asked, a hint of excitement running through his blackened veins.

She rubbed her tired looking eyes, before staring back at him evenly

"No" she replied smoothly and walked away.

* * *

Three weeks passed quickly and before she knew it was the night before the comp.

She was in her room, mulling over the escape plan she'd arranged with Marella, the escape part was all good, they just didn't have an idea as to where they were to go after.

There was a knock at the window.  
She had an idea of who it might be. She'd been expecting this for some time now.  
Reluctantly, she picked herself up from her couch and moved to the window. With her enhanced vision, she could see the outline of a bat hovering around the other side of the frame in the moonless night.

She opened the window and it flew in silently, turning into a blonde haired, malicious looking girl. One that she remembered all too well.

"We've given you plenty of time. Have you done anything to free Malik's mother?"

"Good to see you too, Erin"

The blonde smiled falsely, but that slipped quickly back into her usual scowl.  
Everett shook her head and continued to speak.

"I did do something, but the mirror did something back" she stated "I can't go near it to go through it, but I might have an idea to try again. There's just one thing"

"And what's that?" Erin asked with an indignant eye roll

"A friend and I are planning an escape, we need somewhere to go"

Erin stared her down "I'm afraid I don't quite understand you"

"We need somewhere where someone like Vlad won't look for us" Everett explained quietly

Erin cracked a small, sarcastic smile "And you think that's with us?" she chuckled out

Everett hushed her "Look, there's this school competition happening tomorrow with a competing school. You've probably heard of it; Stokely Grammar"

Erin raised her blonde brows "Yeah, so?"

"The Dracula's are too afraid of what _may_ happen, seeing as they know people from the school. I've told them they should hang around up here-"

"In hiding" Erin interrupted, catching on. She scoffed "Typical. That's something they're good at"

Everett gave a nod "Anyway, afterward I'll head down to the Mirror Room again and try again, hopefully without consequences this time"

Erin stared back at her with a hard look, arms folding in front of her body. Eventually, she spoke quietly "And in return, you want Malik and I to take you and your friend in. Correct?"

Everett gave a nod. Erin stared at her for a moment longer.

"Fine" she eventually said "You and your friend can run with us"

"I can't make promises for Malik's mother" Everett cut in quickly.

Erin made a noise in her throat that showed her annoyance when she realised she was caught in a room that screamed _'hard place with no exit'_

This girl could be so annoying!

"Well, no Elizabetta, no deal" she threw back.

"No deal, no Elizabetta, it's as simple as that" Everett returned "And I'll disappear anyway"

Erin sighed, the same _'No exit'_ line flashing through her mind again.

"Alright, alright, you can try one more time. And even if you fail, you and your friend can hide with us" she said lowly, malicious intent rolling through her words. It was obvious.

Everett had to pick her next words carefully "And we won't be hurt or killed?"  
More statement than question.

Erin sighed again "And neither of you'll be hurt or killed" she begrudgingly growled.

"Good, we'll meet tomorrow night at the motel where we first met. Now leave" Everett shot, indicating to the still open window.

Erin moved back to the window, sitting on the corner and setting her foot on the pane looking as if she was going to throw herself through it.

"Until tomorrow night" she said sarcastically, then turned back into a bat and disappeared in the darkness once more.  
Everett watched after her and Marella appeared in the room a moment later.

"Did ya hear?" Everett asked, not turning to the blonde Daemon.

"Yep" she replied "That's good work right there"

"Thank you" Everett replied "Now, we have work to do. But, first, we need to see Ingrid"


	34. Chapter 34

To say that Ingrid was not happy about this was, well...she wasn't, simply put.

"What do you mean you're leaving?" she asked lowly

"You were already attacked because of me Ingrid. I don't want that happening again. I don't want to know that the next time that happens you end up dusted, I won't be responsible for that" Everett said softly

"We just want to make sure you're safe" Marella put in

"And that means leaving?!"

"In this case, yes" Marella said softly

"We'll write you" Everett tried quietly

Ingrid exhaled through her nose a few times, venting her anger, before giving any sort of reply "Oh, you better!"

She pulled the younger girl to her by the arm and bundled her into a tight hug, something which she was unaccustomed to.  
The female Dracula glanced to her other friend, her blue eyes threatening tears.

"When?" she asked softly

"Tomorrow, after the challenge"

Ingrid let go of the younger brunette "Okay. But, how are **you** going to escape if you're hiding with the rest of us up here and she's down there?"

Marella shrugged "I'll just say I'll keep an eye out for Everett, while staying out of sight. Easy"

"Let's hope it is" Ingrid returned

* * *

The next morning came around far too quickly for any of the girls liking at which point, they put the plan into action.  
First, by approaching the two male Dracula's and telling them an abbreviated version of what was to come, mainly the part where Marella was going to watch over Everett that day whilst remaining out of sight.

Neither male seemed happy with the idea. The Count seemed more peeved at the fact that she was getting out and about and he was suck _'In the attic'_ as he put it.  
Vlad gave the impression he was more accepting of the idea, in fact he was encouraging of it, but was still annoyed with something, quite probably the whole ordeal to begin with.

And with that, Ingrid gave Everett and Marella each one final hug and watched the two girls make their way down stairs.  
Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion as she watched them disappear through the downstairs hall with one final wave and smile.  
She made her way back along the hall at a snail's pace. Her arms having been folded at the beginning of her journey, as a way of holding herself together, had now gradually unfolded themselves and her fingertips grazed along the walls of the narrow passage, to keep her from falling to any one side.

She didn't realise the departure of her only two friends would hit her so hard. It was like losing Will all over again.

She slid between the gap of the door and closed and locked it behind her.  
She stared down at her hand on the handle. She could feel herself shivering, but knew she wasn't cold. Everett said they would write, so why did she feel like that was never going to happen?

"Mistress Ingrid?" she heard Renfield asked behind her gently. She knew she'd heard him but he seemed farther off than he was.

She eventually turned around but looked by him, also ignoring the odd look her brother was giving her. She was staring at her father, sat on his throne.  
She wasn't sure what she looked like at this precise moment or what kind of look she was giving him, but it caught his attention.

He sat straight in his seat, a look of mild concern flashing over his pale face.

"Dad?" she croaked, her voice not sounding her own. She began to make her way across the room but was met by him halfway.

She clung to him, desperately hoping for some fatherly warmth, which, at this time, he was all too happy to provide. No matter what he said or how he outwardly acted, what he felt mattered more.  
She was his little girl, always. And he would always be there for her when she really needed him...and this event would never leave this room.  
He held his little girl closer and followed her as she sunk to the floor.

As he watched on, Vlad knew this wasn't how Ingrid should react for, what would be only a few hours seclusion. Something was up.  
He quickly made his way to the door only to find it locked. Using all his strength didn't even make it budge.

"Ingrid, what's wrong with the door?" he growled

Ingrid turned to speak over her shoulder "Marella is particularly proficient in molecular and force field manipulation"

"You mean we're stuck in here for good, why would she do something like that?!"

"To protect us and to make sure none of us could follow"

"Why?!" Vlad screamed

Ingrid finally met his stern eyes tearfully "Because they're not coming back"

The room remained quiet as her tears fell.  
She was supposed to keep it together until it again became night, but found she just...couldn't.

* * *

Downstairs, Everett and Marella were preparing themselves backstage.  
Marella was hidden out of view in the shadows of a corner and half hidden by excess curtain while Everett was readying herself and her violin for her performance.  
She silently observed the pretty, blonde girl who was to be her opponent.

She looked nervous, if her constant swallowing and sweaty sheet music were anything to go by.

Everett lowered her bow and removed her instrument from her shoulder.  
Ignoring the odd look she received from Marella, she made her way over to the other girl. She was probably two or three years younger than herself and, most likely, nothing could be done to pacify her fear filled green eyes.

"Hey, are you alright?"

The sound of Everett's soft voice made the other girl jump. She gave a quick nod a strangled sort of noise of acknowledgement. Turning away, she let her eyes drop back down the sheet music she held between two tight fists.  
Everett stared down at it over her shoulder, kicking herself for deciding to wear heels on this particular occasion, courtesy of Ingrid...as a parting gift...supposedly.

"_'See you again - 'Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth'_. Good song choice" Everett continued sweetly.

The girl turned back to her, looking at her with an accusing look "Are you going to continue to try and psych me out or are you going to leave?!" she snapped

Everett blinked at her "Actually, I was going to continue to be friendly and try to calm you down a bit. Your nerves are finding their way through the wood of my violin"

The girl stared her dead in the eye, seemingly trying to unnerve the older of the two, but upon seeing the genuine kindness in Everett's sapphire orbs, she found her fear riddled defensiveness withering.

She sighed quietly, staring down again at the papers in her hands.  
"I'm sorry I snapped. Look, you seem like a nice person, but seeing as we're competing against each other I think it would be best if we remained anonymous to one another"

Everett sighed and raised a dark brow in the blondes direction, her look filled with sarcasm and scepticism.  
"I don't think so" she returned "Like I said, your nervousness is affecting everything around you. I'm Everett Ainsley by the way. Is this your first time doing something like this?"

The girl nodded, then shook her head, then nodded again and turned back to Everett looking seriously confused and as if she was begging for the brunette to answer the question for her.

Everett looked down at her with equal confusion. "So...is that a yes, or a no?"

The girls mouth twisted in complicated thought "I've done things similar, but they've always been group things. Like Math Bowls or some sort of team sports thing-"

"And this is the first time you've done something like this on your own" Everett guessed "That would explain your nervousness"

"I haven't even been playing for all that long! I've only just reached grade four and I'm not even all that good!" the girl practically yelled, then began to hyperventilate slightly. Everett immediately jumped into action.

"Okay, first things first; breathe deep breaths" she ordered and was glad to see that the girl took up her advice straight off.

"Secondly; I don't think your principal would've chosen you if she didn't think you had a chance"

"I was the only person to volunteer" the girl replied with frightened eyes again

Everett paused for a moment "Then that proves your brave" she finally answered with resolve.  
Then she leaned in closer

"You said your grade four? Well, I'll tell you a secret; I have no gradings"

"But how long have you been playing piano?"

Everett's brows disappeared in her hair, that's how high they rose

_'Piano?'_

"I may have some bad news for you, I don't play piano" she eventually answered after another, longer pause.

"Then what do you play?"

"Violin"

"For how long?" the girl asked slowly

"Since I was four"

The girl stared up at her wide eyed and gulped with nervous shock.  
Everett could only feel bad for her.

_'I guess McCauley wants an easy win'_ she finally concluded. She realised then that she was doing nothing to calm the girl down.

"Okay, look, don't worry. It's just been a misinterpretation. That's all. On our principals behalf. We can still be friends...or acquaintances...I guess..."

_'Aw damn!'_

"You want to be friends?" the girl asked sceptically

"Sure, why not?" Everett replied. Then a thought occurred to her

"Tell ya what. They still expect us to compete but, why don't we shove it to _"the man"_, hmm? What other songs do you know?"


	35. Chapter 35

**(Music – Senbonzakura – Lindsey Stirling (Only On Youtube))**

* * *

Something small sped across the Throne Room and landed in the fire, kicking up sparks of flame and spitting red hot embers across the threshold of the fireplace.

"Master Vlad, please don't do that" Renfield tried softly "I've just cleaned there and it wouldn't do any good if something was to catch alight"

Though he glared up at the manservant, he could understand the point. It would be no good to burn to ash trapped in this room...without taking Marella with them!  
Vlad sat heavily on the couch, arms folded tight across himself to keep from reaching out for something else. He still couldn't fathom Everett's actions, or Ingrid's words for that matter, seeing as she'd taken to not speaking or explaining anything further.  
He stared at the heavy curtained windows. He would brave the sunlight just to get to Everett...he realised he'd done that before, for someone else...and that fiasco had ended badly.  
But he would do it all again if it was Everett on the other side.

And he would.

_'I will. She's just downstairs, I only need to keep to the shadows and get inside again'_

It was stupid, he knew that, but he had to do something...right?

The sound of a piano being played drifted up the stairs and to his ears.  
The cheerless music of Adele reached the ears of everyone in the room, save for Renfield, seeing as he was human.  
He hated the fact that she used the challenge as a means of escape. If she'd wanted to leave, she should've just said something!

"Well, I suppose that's it then. We're stuck in here" he heard his father say from across the room.

He looked across to the _'Prince of Darkness'_ with a sour face. The Count could be so pathetic when he wanted to be.

"Not quite" Vlad stated "Renfield-"

The thing from the Lagoon turned abruptly at the sound of his name.

"Check the windows would you, we might be able to get out that way"

"But Vladdy it's bright daylight! It's suicide!" his father protested

"I don't know about you, but I'd like to know why they'd trap us in here and then leave!" he shot

"Vlad, we all know the real reason you don't want **her** to leave" Ingrid spoke quietly "You weren't exactly quiet about it"

If he could've blushed he would've. The Count stared between them in confusion.

"What are you babbling on about Ingrid?" he questioned hurriedly, his earlier actions and feelings towards her having dissipated a while ago and reverted to the usual temperament he kept just for her.

Ingrid scoffed slightly "Oh dad, you can be so dense when you want to be!"

The Count looked offended as Renfield nodded slightly in agreement, knowing exactly what she was on about.  
Vlad was horrified to say the least, even Renfield knew!  
He was worried his sister would continue to rat him out, but was glad to hear that she wasn't going to say anything more than that on the matter.

"Vlad" she said seriously "If you're really going to attempt suicide, take dad's coat. I don't think she'd be too happy to hear you turned to ashes because of her"

"Well, you would be glad if I was ashed" he replied sarcastically, ignoring his father's protests and complaints about his _'vintage'_ coat.

Ingrid sighed heavily "Well, you can suicide run or wait until Marella releases the field later on. It's up to you"

"Well, it's nice to know they'll be letting us out" Renfield side noted, adding in an _'Eventually'_ at the quiet, evil looks her received from the other two males in the room.

"Renfield! The windows!" Vlad insisted, watching as, with a scowl, the dogsbody moved to do as he was told.

* * *

"That was great Chloe" Everett congratulated the blonde as she walked back offstage toward her "I don't know why you say you're not good"

Chloe smiled timidly "Thanks. I'm pretty sure my parents were recording me"

Everett snorted then chuckled lightly "I wish I **had** parents to record me" she said quietly

Chloe stalled, instantly realising her slip-up

"I'm sorry" she said sincerely and softly

"I didn't say anything, how were you to know?" Everett returned with a giggling smile

The pair were quiet for an awkward moment, Everett vaguely aware of Marella watching them from somewhere nearby. She could feel her eyes.

"Are you ready?" Chloe then asked gently.

Everett gave a nod, swallowed and stared out to the stage where McCauley was making the introductions.

"You know what I didn't say before?" Everett stated, continuing when Chloe shrugged silently for her to do so.

"Today's my last day here. This is probably the first and last time I'll see you. Seems kinda sad, huh?"  
Everett turned to the stage as McCauley walked off towards her bidding her a hushed _'Good luck'_  
Everett sent a final smile to Chloe before walking out onto the stage.

The small auditorium was full to the max. Those from Garside Grange cheered loudly as she made her way to centre stage, just in front of the large piano that had been placed on stage, while the others from Stokely Grammar applauded politely.  
Well, some of them did boo loudly in competition with the cheering.

Everett snorted "Ha! You won't booing me when this is over!" she snapped cockily, earning laughter from almost all present.

She crouched, knee just touching the stage floor. Raised and placed the Violin to her shoulder, closed her eyes and breathed deep, she intendid to make this a performance.  
In her mind she could hear the music. The bow moved as an extension of her arm as it lifted to meet the strings of her instrument and began to play an introduction.  
Then she began to dance.

* * *

He heard the hum of strings before he heard the music.  
That was how on edge he was.

His son was willing to risk sunlight for some stupid answers to some stupid questions! He wouldn't have minded if it was Ingrid throwing herself out the window...pretences, pretences...but this was Vladimir they were talking about. The Chosen One. King of all Vampires.  
The Count couldn't afford for anything to happen to him, otherwise he'd have select members of the Council on him...and he wouldn't be too thrilled about losing his only son and heir either.

_'Hmm, Violin, an interesting choice of instrument, with the skill I'm hearing now, it would have to be someone who's played for longer than ten years'_ he told himself

_'Didn't the Calvetti women play Violin? If I remember correctly, Fausta taught Alina, and if Alina had a daughter, she would definitely have taught her own daughter. If that's Everett playing, there are less and less coincidences with the girl'_

"Wait, Vlad. I'll go with you" The Count heard Ingrid say to her sibling.

"No. You stay up here. You'd probably just lock me out anyway" the last part tried and failed at being an undertone drowned in sarcasm.

"Well, what are you going to do if you see someone you know?" she stated, knowing that he knew there was a good chance there would be some familiar faces in the crowd. She mentally cursed Marella for not sealing the windows as well as the door.

Though she suspected that Marella thought none of the Vampires in the room were moronic enough to attempt such a thing as Vlad now was.

He merely shrugged "I'll deal with it"

"Vladimir, please reconsider" The Count pleaded "Think this through. If the girl really wants to go, then let her. The fact that the Daemon made the shields in the first place only proves that she doesn't want to be followed"

Vlad sighed angrily as he rubbed at his eyes "Dad, we've already been over this. Now give me your coat"

Vlad held out a hand expectantly. The Count growled and shrugged off his coat. If he ever saw Everett again, he would do more than kill her, especially if she was the reason his son got killed!

Renfield opened the window as wide as it could go, sticking his hand and head out to double check that there was nothing stopping his young master from racing to the shadows across the yard.  
He nearly fell out, but thankfully caught himself and pulled his head back in quickly. He exhaled a shaky, foul breath of relief.

"It seems all clear Master Vlad" he directed desolately to said Vampire "Good luck"

Vlad nodded grimly in thanks as he threw the coat over his head. He took a few unneeded, deep breaths and launched himself out the window to the other side of the courtyard and into the shadows, disappearing from sight half a second later.

Thankfully, there were other ways of getting inside the school, if you knew where to look.


	36. Chapter 36

**This is the last chapter. I hope you all enjoyed the story.  
But please don't fret, there will be another to come, Everett's journey hasn't ended yet.**

**R**

* * *

**(Music – Avicii – Wake Me Up)**

* * *

Everett played the last few notes, finishing with a flourish.

The auditorium erupted in cheering applause. Every student from both schools hollered and screamed loudly for her. Scatterings of students gave her a standing ovation, some that saw others doing so joined in...even Stokely's principal.

Everett looked off to the side of the stage to see her new friend smiling widely and clapping excitedly. She obviously held no hard feelings against the brunette and had thoroughly enjoyed the performance.  
Everett smiled to her and took her bow, making it more of a sweeping curtsey and removing an imaginary hat...it was just what she did.  
She indicated for Chloe to join her on stage, eventually having to walk over and gently pull the other onto centre stage with her.

"C'mon. You agreed to this. In fact, if I remember correctly, _you_ chose the song"

Everett kindly pushed her to the piano stool "You worry about the main music, let me worry about the words"  
She turned back to the crowd "We'd like to play one more song. And, if you don't mind, we'd like for you to have some fun"

Chloe gave a slight nod and smiled, preparing herself to play.  
Everett fell into her place when the lyrics were supposed to start

* * *

Vlad ducked in through a door, still smoking and wincing in pain.  
He threw down his father's precious coat and kicked it into a nearby wall, deciding to leave it there. Count Dracula could find his **own **coat later tonight!

He walked casually, but quickly, in the direction of music.  
He was surprised to see that there were still a hefty number of students not in the auditorium, instead choosing to lounge around the halls or classrooms during the break in schedule.

He quickened his pace, because he could. Ignoring the few stares he got from the minute number who knew him.

When he reached the door to the auditorium, he stopped as dead as his heart. If it had been beating, it probably would've done just that too.  
Stood, leaning against the opposite wall, was a**_ very _**familiar face. One clad in a long black coat that almost mirrored Everett's.

He wanted to hide. This was something he knew could possibly happen, but had hoped, to all vampire equivalent of heaven, that it would not.

The face looked to him, eyes brightening.  
It had aged, but there was no denying it was Robin Branaugh.  
Vlad stared down at his own black, non-uniform dress before meeting the others eye again.

"Hi" Robin threw at him excitedly.

"Uhhh..." this turned into a croak towards the end, his shellshock turning him speechless.

Robin quickly stalled and rolled his eyes, obviously thinking he'd found another human dud.  
Vlad felt the need to turn this around** fast**, but his brain told him that that should be the last thing to be doing.  
Then he had an idea. It may be a long shot now, but it was still that.

"Uh, sorry" he started cautiously "You don't see a lot of Goth's around here is all"

Robin raised a dark brow seemingly unconvinced.  
Vlad was surprised, yet again, when Robin replied with;

"I'm not a Goth, I like wearing black. Though I do have the quintessential morbid streak required of one"

Vlad blinked, absolutely lost, which caused the other taller boy to laugh at him loudly.  
He did his very best to not let his scowl show and pushed forward with his plan.

"Look, I know we've just met, but could you do me a favour?"

"Depends" Robin replied "What's in it for me?"

"You get to stare at the most beautiful girl you've ever seen" okay, that was being over dramatic and Robin was still looking bored.

"She may be interested" Vlad continued to try

Robin still looked bored, but eventually gave a small nod "Fine. What do I need to do?"

Vlad sighed but answered.

"I need you to look out for and stall a girl"

"That sounds a little stalkerish to me" Robin replied straightforwardly.

"Could you please just do it!" Vlad insisted "She's leaving and I won't have another chance!"

"Ahh. So this is a lovers tiff, as it were" Robin reasoned, ignoring the awkward look Vlad sent him.  
He nodded in the direction of the music.

"Had to get outta there, too cheerful for my liking"

"Yeah well, Everett is a bit of a clubber"

"She the one you're looking for?" Robin questioned. Vlad nodded, staring fixatedly on the doors.

He heard the morbid boy whistle lowly, which turned into a chuckle "You are one lucky son of a gun, mate. That girl is certainly something"

Vlad growled, doing his best to quiet the voice in his head that told him to kill

"Could you just make sure she doesn't leave!" he spat

Robin nodded again and Vlad took his chance to duck through the doors into the packed auditorium. He wasn't surprised to see this fraction of the student body on their feet and dancing like the regulars to the Blood Bank. Even the few teachers in the room were enjoying themselves.

He recognised another pair of familiar faces in the crowd. If the Branaugh parents were here then that meant...he looked to the stage and sure enough, he could see their only daughter sat at the piano next to Everett, who was playing to perfection.

He was stunned. Obviously his words to Robin had been a confession rather than just words.  
Watching Everett from his place at the door was like watching something that fell from heaven.  
He only managed to catch a glimpse before something took him out, slamming him back through the doors.

* * *

Marella dashed by her on the stage, making her stop playing.  
Everett shared a quick look with Chloe, ushered for her to keep playing and jumped off the side of the stage into what was now essentially a Moshpit.  
This was it, her second and last chance for her to get into that mirror.

She pushed through the crowd to the back of the room and out through the door into the hall where she saw Marella on the floor struggling to hold off Vlad. Beside them was an unfortunate boy who had obviously seen too much and was currently passed out. She recognised him as the same boy who'd been hitting on her before the show.

"Go! I've got this!"

The sound of Marella's voice snapped her out of her distracted state and she made a run for it, using all her speed when she was around the corner and out of sight of them. For some odd reason, she felt compelled to hide her vampness from the other vamp.

She was back in the Mirror Room in no time, standing in front of it again.  
The eyes of the Gargoyles opened abruptly causing her to step back.

"You should not have returned" the one on the right told her, its head twisting into what would be an uncomfortable position for anything with bones.  
Its voice was a coarse mix of breaking rocks and nails on a chalk board that echoed unpleasantly.

"You were not made to proceed" its twin on the left stated, its own voice as smooth as silk, as sweet as honey and as soft as a feather, its voice also echoing.

"You will not get what you come for" they harmonized almost pleasantly.

"I don't think that's up to you" she returned with challenge.

"Without the proper help, you will not go far" the gargoyles harmonized again

She folded her arms as her reflection stepped into the frame "Who says she has no help?"

The surface of the mirror cracked, allowing the light from inside to seep through in fine tendrils. Everett dashed at the mirror. As she stepped through she felt as if she was bouncing off of it instead but soon found herself standing in the middle of a forest glade, surrounded by lush greenery…well, sort of. It was strange and didn't seem real to her.

She wasn't sure where she should be looking, seeing as she was looking for a rock in a forest.  
She turned to look behind her and saw the inside frame of the mirror, looking out onto reality. She could see herself on the floor.

"Well, that's interesting…and worrying"

"You're telling me" she heard echoed in her head

She stalled.

"Don't freak out" the voice told her "It's just me, your reflection"  
An image of herself appeared in front of her like a ghost but more solid.  
She reached out and touched the other her, finding she was indeed quite solid. They smirked to each other .

"Now, if I were a magical green rock, where would I hide?"

"That's a good question"

"So, what do we do? We can't go back with nothing…can we?"

"Well, it's pretty dangerous here you won't be able to stay long. And if you're out of your body too long, something else is bound to jump in" reflection stated.

"Then this is a bust! We didn't even stop to think about what we would find here!" Everett told it heatedly.

"Look, don't worry. I can fly through here pretty quickly. I'm sure I'll be able to find something out"

"I can look too! You're not the only one who can fly…well, high jump at least" Everett made to use her version of vamp speed but only succeeded in falling flat on her face.

"You don't have vampire powers here" her reflection told her "Only I do, because I'm your Vampire half"

Everett pouted childishly and adjusted herself so she sat with her legs crossed on the forest floor.

"Don't be a child" reflection scolded gently "You stay by the mirror entrance and keep lookout, in case we need to get back quickly. I'll search for the rock and come get you when I find it"

It dashed off in a direction, with her speed, not even touching the ground.  
She begrudgingly picked herself up out of the dirt and slowly began to make her way back to the entrance, not really having that far to go in the first place.  
She sat with her back to the magic glass, hoping no one outside it would see her and that she could keep lookout for the strange noises that ricocheted around her. Maybe this hadn't been a good idea in the first place.

This was a world within itself. There was no telling where Malik's mother had been hidden away.

Something called close by, making her flinch in that direction. This was a world within itself, and there was no telling what would eat her.

* * *

She waited what felt like hours before something began to happen. As her reflection returned, with nothing, Marella appeared on the other side of the glass, kneeling beside her body. They chuckled lightly as she swore under her breath.  
Everett decided it was time to head back, even if she was empty handed.

Her reflection faded and she stepped through the glass causing it to ripple slightly as she did so. She stood over her body and friend, opaque in colour and lay back down in her body.  
She felt a jolt and sat up too quickly, causing her head to spin.

"Did you find it?" was Mar's fist question.

Everett shook her head despondently.  
"The inside of that mirror is bigger than we anticipated" she explained.

Marella pulled her up "Whatever. Look, we don't have time to discuss mirror sizes, we have to go! Things are getting complicated and I have too many Force Fields up to maintain. Vlad could break through any moment! Any of them could!"

The daemon girl lifted her from the floor, Everett's arm over her shoulder and proceeded to haul her out of there as quick as she could.  
Everett managed to catch a quick glimpse of the shocked eyes of the Gargoyles before they blurred into non-existence.

The sunlight blinded her as she quickly found herself outside.  
Mar stopped momentarily to dissipate her spells, allowing Everett one last glance at Garside Grange…and one last thought of Vlad…though she didn't know why.

Marella snapped her attention back to the situation at hand and pushed Everett out through the archway and the gates, back into the forest and onto their next destination.


End file.
